After seeing an uptick in fatal traffic accidents, the City of Vinton and counties of Botetourt and Roanoke have developed a Safe Streets initiative to explore changes to their most dangerous streets.

All governments held community meetings and surveys in 2024 before presenting a variety of plans online for public comment. More public events are planned once the administrations have had the chance to review all comments.

The Roanoke, Vinton, and Botetourt plans are all available on government websites.

These Comprehensive Safety Action Plans are part of the Federal Highway Administration’s Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) program established as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law appropriating $5 billion for road safety.

Once fully reviewed the plans will be submitted to the Federal Highway Administration for funding and implementation.

The initial study identified the top 10 roads and intersections for severe injuries and fatalities including the Electric Road East corridor from Brambleton Ave. to the Roanoke City Line and parts of Interstate 81.

“We’re looking at the worst of the worst to try to fix the worst of the worst so that hopefully we’re having fewer injuries and fewer fatalities on our county roads,” said Roanoke County Assistant Director of Planning Megan Cronise.

Some plan suggestions include introducing dedicated paths in areas with high bike or pedestrian traffic.

The year kicked off with yet another fatal pedestrian crash on Tuesday January 14.  

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Vinton, Roanoke, and Botetourt have plans for safer streets – and a goal of federal funding to make it possible.