Every year there are over 3,700 vehicle crashes in the Salem-Keizer area, with thousands of injuries—some minor, others life changing—including 15 to 20 fatalities per year. Despite efforts at the state and local level to build a safer transportation system and encourage safer driving, the number of crashes and fatalities has increased over the last 10 years.
The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) 2021 Transportation Safety Action Plan developed a mixture of policies and strategies at the overall state level. The Salem-Keizer Area Transportation Study (SKATS)—the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for Keizer-Salem—has started a study to examine local crash data and develop recommendations that local jurisdictions could implement.
The study is called the Metropolitan Transportation Safety Action Plan (MTSAP). Because the crash data tells only part of the story, the MPO is also involving experts in traffic engineering, enforcement, and planning to look beyond the crash data for potential solutions to reduce crashes.
In the first online open house, the MPO is asking the public to share their top transportation safety concerns, use a map to share which roads or locations they have safety concerns and to give feedback on initial strategy options. The MPO also wants to hear stories about a time you or someone you know felt unsafe (or experienced unsafe conditions) while getting around Salem-Keizer or why improving transportation safety in Salem-Keizer is important to you.
The information will be shared with local elected officials and city/county transportation staff as the MPO develops a draft Transportation Safety Action Plan.
To participate in the survey, go to bit.ly/mtsap-ooh1. The online open house is available in English and Spanish and will be open through April 3. Participants of the survey can enter a drawing to win one of ten $25 gift cards.
A second online open house will be scheduled in late summer 2023 to ask the public to comment on draft strategies for the Action Plan.