October is National Pedestrian Safety Month, a time to recognize the numerous dangers, indignities, and inconveniences that pedestrians face every day in this country. It is also a time to imagine and plan how to do things differently. One city that is taking steps toward becoming a better place for pedestrians is Durham, North Carolina.
Like many American cities, Durham has faced transportation safety challenges that have had devastating impacts, especially on vulnerable populations and communities of color. Recently, SGA partnered with CityHealth and the City of Durham as they make progress on their goal of completely eliminating severe and fatal crashes.
Introduction
On the day we arrived in Durham, my colleague and I decided to take a stroll around Downtown to get a feel of the place and what it’s like to be a pedestrian there. We headed toward Durham Central Park–a community park that hosts numerous events and sees high foot traffic. As we were about to cross at the intersection of Foster and Hunt Street, the driver of a dark SUV made a fast right turn without braking, nearly hitting us. The driver zoomed down Hunt Street without slowing. I don’t think the driver even saw (or perhaps didn’t care) that we were entering a crosswalk.
This incident, which happened within a few hours of arriving in the city, confirmed that action on pedestrian safety is needed, and gave a small window into the experiences of Durhamites who move around the city without a car.
Partnering with Durham
In a June 2024 resolution, the City of Durham set goals to reduce traffic deaths and serious injuries by 50 percent by 2035 and reach zero fatalities and serious injuries by 2045. To achieve these goals, the city is creating a Vision Zero Action Plan to direct and coordinate efforts. Smart Growth America (SGA) was connected to the Vision Zero Coordinator Lauren Grove and other City of Durham staff by CityHealth. We decided to collaborate to support Durham as it creates its Vision Zero Action Plan to incorporate elements of SGA’s Complete Streets Policy Framework.
To improve road safety and eliminate fatal and serious injury crashes in Durham, the city is creating a Vision Zero Action Plan. While there are some differences between Vision Zero and Complete Streets, they are two complementary approaches to improving safety for pedestrians and other vulnerable road users. Combining the two approaches can improve mobility and safety for everyone. Learn more about the relationship between Vision Zero and Complete Streets here.
An important component of this partnership was a workshop planned and implemented by Smart Growth America and the City of Durham September 30th – October 1st. The goal of the workshop was to convene stakeholders who will be responsible for improving road safety in Durham and brainstorm around the city’s top priorities.
Workshop activities included presentations by Smart Growth America, City of Durham, DCHC Metropolitan Planning Organization, and the UNC Highway Safety Research Center. We also had visioning activities where participants identified and defined priority areas and actions to improve safety in Durham. Those inputs will play an important role in the drafting of the Vision Zero Action Plan, to be finished by early 2025.
Experiencing it for ourselves
As part of our two-day workshop, we also conducted safety audits of pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure to understand and discuss current conditions in Durham.
Walk audit: Downtown Durham and the Old Five Points neighborhood (2 miles)
This tour, which started from the Durham Armory where the workshop was held, included commercial areas where many Durhamites work, recreational areas (such as Central Park), as well as many residences. The tour was led by Smart Growth America, but participants (including representatives from the North Carolina Department of Transportation, the City of Durham, Durham Central Park, and local organizations) shared their observations and experiences along the way.
The group identified some positive aspects of pedestrian safety such as a few protected intersections with enhanced features. However, there were many other areas that showed deficiencies that create obstacles or hazards for pedestrians. For example, we found multiple areas that were uncomfortable or dangerous for walking, and one stretch where there was no sidewalk on either side of the road. We also saw roads with cars traveling at high speeds.
Bike audit: American Tobacco Trail and residential neighborhoods (5 miles)
We started in Downtown Durham heading south along the American Tobacco Trail before turning east and coming back through several residential neighborhoods including Hayti–a historically black community that was divided by 1950s urban renewal with the construction of the Durham Freeway 147.
Similar to the walk audit, the cycling group identified certain areas where infrastructure made them feel safe, but other areas that felt uncomfortable and dangerous. The group explained how scary it was to bike down state-owned roads such as South Roxboro Street or Fayetteville Street and how they wished safe infrastructure such as the American Tobacco Trail were better connected to other biking routes. Furthermore, the areas that lacked safe routes often coincided with marginalized communities.
The mayor of Durham, Leonardo Williams, joined us for this bike audit. Having elected officials take part in safety audits like this one can be a valuable way to strengthen partnerships and deepen conversations around safe streets. We were glad Mayor Williams could join us.
Takeaways for making safety a priority
Though National Pedestrian Safety Month is coming to an end, the pedestrian safety crisis is ongoing. Cities and towns across the country should take bold actions to improve our streets. If you want to make progress towards pedestrian safety, here are some important steps to consider:
Develop a shared vision
Different stakeholders have different understandings of safety and how to achieve it. It is important to create a shared understanding of the priorities and the actions that will help you reach your safety goals. In the Durham workshop, participants completed a visioning activity to establish the key priority areas for the Vision Zero Action Plan.
Walk (and bike) the streets
It is important that all stakeholders experience streets from the perspectives of different users, especially vulnerable ones such as pedestrians and bicyclists. The Durham workshop included a walk and bike audit that included residential, commercial, and recreational parts of the city.
Engage a broad range of stakeholders, including the community
Transportation and road safety involves multiple government departments and entities such as departments of transportation, public works, parks and recreation, police, fire, etc. These should all be brought on board and encouraged to work in a collaborative way. The Durham workshop included representatives from many government departments as well as community organizations, elected officials, and residents.
Multiple policies and strategies can achieve results
For sustainable impact, it is important to enact strong policies and plans such as a Vision Zero Action Plan and Complete Streets policy. Durham is currently creating a Vision Zero Action Plan and is considering other policy actions that can help reach its safety goals. In addition, the Durham City Council recently adopted the Urban Street Design Guide and Urban Bikeway Design Guide from NACTO as the official guidelines for the city.