COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — The city of Columbus is pushing forward with a plan to end crash-related deaths. 

Sixty-five percent of severe or fatal crashes happen on just 10 percent of Columbus streets. Now the city is hoping federal funding will help bring this number down.

Three different projects will receive $1.38 million to help: the first is a protected bike lane on East Broad Street that would stretch from Nelson Road to Parsons Avenue.

“Broad Street, right now, is very much a racetrack with six lanes and turn lanes going down there,” Columbus Department of Public Service Deputy Director Kelly Scocco said. “It is pretty scary for folks to drive. So that — to be able to have a facility dedicated on the near east side to bicycling and protected away from that driving public — is very exciting.”

East Broad is on the city’s high injury network, which means it’s one of the streets that has the greatest number of fatal, serious injury and vulnerable user crashes per half mile.

“We have way too many fatalities and severe injuries on our city streets,” Scocco said. “No fatality is acceptable under Vision Zero.”

From 2017 to 2021, Vision Zero shows there have been at least 38 crashes involving pedestrians on East Broad Street. Two other projects also hope to address problem streets.

“It’s going to take a culture change of people driving safely, reducing their speeds and to, really, don’t drive distracted,” Scocco said. “So, what does that look like? We’re looking for engineering solutions.”

The money will be used to develop a neighborhood slow zone project and to improve messaging.

“Too many people are getting severely injured and dying on our city streets, and we really need to figure out that messaging that’s going to make people want to change their distracted driving and their speeding through our city streets,” Scocco said. 

If you want to learn more about Vision Zero or see if your street is on the high-injury network, click here.