SAN DIEGO — Pedestrian safety in the city of San Diego is being significantly underfunded, a new report from the city auditor claims. The report also shows that more underserved communities are not getting their fair share of local resources when it comes to pedestrian safety improvements.
San Diego is only a couple of years away from its Vision Zero goal of eliminating all traffic deaths and serious injuries by 2025. Since 2015, though, those numbers have been relatively unchanged. The number of pedestrian deaths here in San Diego and across the country have continued to rise.
The intersection at El Cajon Boulevard and 46th Street in City Heights, just down the street from Hoover High School, is one of the most dangerous in the city of San Diego. That's according to data analyzed by the non-profit Circulate San Diego.
"This is where we are asking the city to make some investments in infrastructure to make this intersection safer," said Colin Parent, the group's executive director.
Among those proposed changes include bright white crosswalk lines, a countdown timer, and an audible timer to help pedestrians safely cross the street,
"These are things we are not seeing in City Heights to the same level you are seeing in more affluent communities like La Jolla and Carmel Valley," Parent added.
This new report from the city of San Diego's auditor, following up on a 2016 audit on pedestrian safety, found the city currently needs more than a thousand pedestrian safety improvements, but only a few dozen each year are being funded.
Parent said it comes down to prioritizing where the city's tens of millions of dollars in city transportation funds are ultimately allocated.
"To my mind, we should be making a greater prioritization on street safety, especially in communities like this that have been under-invested in," he told CBS 8.
The report also recommends devoting a full-time city position dedicated to coordinating all of the city's Vision Zero initiatives, like many other major cities have done.
The city has done a better job over the past eight years of using data to decide which areas to improve, according to this report.
Parent said that following this data is crucial.
"Where are those hot spots? Where are the most people being injured and killed in our streets?" he added. "And that should inform where we make the investments."
"Are there easy things that you can implement without fixing the whole intersection?" asked Janet Rogers, co-founder of the non-profit group Safe Walkways.
Rogers said one of those easy and cost-effective changes is something called "daylighting," which was recently signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom.
This prohibits drivers from parking along the curb within 20 feet of an intersection, helping to provide greater visibility — and safety — for pedestrians and bicyclists.
"One of the best things you can do is increase visibility," Rogers told CBS 8. "We can make some small changes too that have big impacts."
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