It’s been nearly a year since Indy committed to Vision Zero with the goal to eliminate traffic-related fatalities and serious injuries.
Since then, the city has hired a Vision Zero administrator, sought public feedback and developed a draft action plan.
But some cyclists and pedestrian safety advocates are frustrated with what they see as a lack of urgency to address a problem that claimed the lives of 41 residents and injured more than 800 others in 2024, according to Indy Pedestrian Safety Crisis, which collects data on traffic-related incidents.
“The longer we put this off, people keep dying,” said Carlos Lemus, a cyclist who lives in the Old Northside. “We need to be doing things on time. We need to give it the expediency that it needs.”
Lemus spoke to Mirror Indy following a June 25 meeting of the City-County Council’s Vision Zero Task Force where it gave an update on its progress since it was formed in August.
He said he was frustrated to learn that the City-County Council will miss a self-imposed July 1 deadline to approve a Vision Zero action plan, which is in the process of being finalized. The online public comment form for the plan will be available starting July 1 on the city’s Vision Zero website.
When asked about the missed deadline, task force chair John Barth, a Democratic councilor from the north side, dismissed concerns that the group wasn’t acting with enough urgency.
“To be direct, our consultants didn’t think it was possible to achieve this so quickly, because this is a lot of work, and other states and other cities have taken up to a year to do this,” Barth told reporters following the meeting. “We’ve got this done and out for people to review. So I feel very confident, very good about where we are.”
Others are calling for more transparency.
Eric Holt, founder of Safe Streets Indy who also runs Indy Pedestrian Safety Crisis, said the public should have been given an opportunity to review and comment on the action plan in a public forum.
“Many other council committees allow for public comment at their meetings, so we do not understand why the task force has been reluctant to do so,” Holt wrote in his June 23 newsletter.
Barth said the meetings are meant to be a conversation among members of the task force. He also pointed out that the task force has held 19 public engagement meetings and asked for feedback through online surveys since the process began.
What’s in Indy’s Vision Zero plan?
The draft action plan includes steps that city departments could take to prevent roadway deaths and serious injuries.
For example, it would direct the city’s Fatal Crash Review Team to complete road safety audits at some of Indy’s most dangerous intersections. It also includes steps to create a citywide Safe Routes to School program, secure software for signal timing improvements and conduct high-visibility law enforcement campaigns.
Some, but not all, of the steps in the plan would require additional funding.
The draft plan is available online.
What’s next for Vision Zero?
City Controller Abby Hanson said the task force will have to decide what plans to prioritize in what she anticipates will be a “difficult” budget process.
“We’re going to have a serious conversation about how we are going to fund these strategies, and it’s going to require a prioritization of this (Vision Zero) initiative against other initiatives we’re going to do,” Hanson said during the meeting.
LeAndre Level Jr., the city’s Vision Zero administrator, said he is working with the task force and the city controller’s office to see what changes can be funded.
“I don’t think the public should be concerned,” Level told reporters following the task force’s June 25 meeting. “Vision Zero is a policy, not necessarily programs with specific line items.”
The task force’s June 25 meeting was its third since its inception.
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Peter Blanchard covers local government. Reach him at 317-605-4836 or peter.blanchard@mirrorindy.org. Follow him on X @peterlblanchard.
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