Milwaukee commits to ‘Vision Zero’ goal

Joins the nationwide network to end traffic deaths

Barbara Toles lives two blocks from Capitol Drive, one of the city’s most notorious reckless driving corridors. ● “This is just wild,” she said on a recent morning, pointing toward the road as cars screeched in the distance. “The speeding that takes place is just ridiculous.” ● So ridiculous that she and her neighbors from the city’s northwest side tend to avoid the street entirely when heading to and from town. Toles ticked off a number of other familiar danger zones: Fond du Lac Avenue. 60th Street. West Congress Street.

The city is now making the grand promise to fix all that and more. Toles was at the signing of a resolution that commits the city to the goal of zero traffic deaths on its streets. Mayor Cavalier Johnson, whose former aldermanic district includes much of Capitol Drive and Toles’ home, said he was “confident” the city was moving in the right direction.

“For far too long, traffic fatalities have been accepted as the inevitable,” Johnson said before signing the resolution, which was passed unanimously by the Common Council last week. “That’s not the approach we should have in Milwaukee.”

The approach Milwaukee should have instead, he and others said, is called “Vision Zero.” Vision Zero is a holistic framework to road safety that views all traffic deaths as preventable, encouraging new policies that benefit pedestrians, cyclists and motorists. Urban design, educational programs and stronger traffic enforcement are all on the table.

Reckless driving has been an increasingly persistent issue in Milwaukee County, with a record 107 killed on the streets in 2020, according to the Medical Examiner’s Office. Eighty-seven traffic deaths happened in 2021, according to the state transportation department, and 39 people have been killed so far this year.

If successful, Vision Zero could be one of the most memorable and visible pieces of Johnson’s tenure. As an alderman, Johnson had pushed for a reckless driving reduction initiative called S.T.A.N.D.

But actually getting to zero deaths is a tall task. Vision Zero began in Scandinavia, where a handful of cities achieved measurable success. But the movement’s adoption in the U.S. has hit a roadblock, with most of the country experiencing higher rates of traffic violence over the last decade. Few cities have decreased deaths. Fewer have reached zero.

Milwaukee will soon be recognized by the national Vision Zero network, a collective of municipalities nationwide committed to ending motorist, cyclist and pedestrian fatalities. Seeking that recognition

ANGELA PETERSON / MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL Barbara Toles stands at the corner of West Capitol Drive and North 56th Street in Milwaukee on Wednesday. Toles was a recent speaker at an initiative called “Vision Zero” to eliminate traffic deaths. She shared how dangerous she thinks her neighborhood intersection is.

ISAAC YU/MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL More than 60 people gathered at Albright United Methodist Church on June 25 to question the mayor, police chief and others on reckless driving reduction tactics.