CINCINNATI — Cincinnati City Council passed an ordinance Wednesday to create an in-house pedestrian safety crew, which will allow the city to implement pedestrian safety projects faster.
This is in response to a number of recent pedestrian crashes, including the hit and run that killed one UC student and injured another while they were walking in a marked crosswalk.
The crash is one of nearly 200 crashes in Cincinnati so far this year involving a pedestrian. Five of those crashes were fatalities.
Numbers are down a little from last year. At this time in 2021, there were 240 pedestrian crashes. Five of those were fatalities. For many, the decrease is not enough.
"These fatalities are becoming too often commonplace on our streets," Mayor Aftab Pureval said.
The in-house safety crew will work on pedestrian safety projects like the installation of temporary bump-outs, signage, pain and rubber speed cushions.
"That crew is going to consist of five people," said John Brazina, director of the Cincinnati Department of Transportation and Engineering (DOTE). "They're going to help us to actually get some pedestrian safety improvements installed faster."
Matt Butler, director of the Devou Good Foundation, said measures like the ones the safety crew would focus on have minimal impact. They're a good first step, but ultimately it's the design and redesign of streets that will have the most impact.
"We have a long way to go as a community, and unfortunately, people are dying," Butler said.
Eliza Harold, the parent of a UC student, said she's concerned because the funding is only good through the end of the 2023 fiscal year and the focus is too broad.
"Let us not cheer as the heroes or pat ourselves on the back," Harold said. "As it stands, nothing has been accomplished with this passage."
DOTE and the University of Cincinnati had a meeting this week and have more scheduled to address pedestrian safety specifically in Clifton.
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