KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Cody Gentry, the coordinator of Vision Zero, showed off two recently completed projects designed to protect pedestrians along North Broadway Thursday morning. A freshly paved sidewalk and crosswalk near the intersection of North Broadway and Mineral Springs Avenue are two examples of a philosophical change in the city's planning, he said.
"We have really prioritized moving vehicles, getting from point A to point B, as quickly as possible, just getting people through," he said. "Now, we're sort of shifting that priority from convenience and speed to safety. So, safety is going to take priority over everything else."
The city is using a "safe system" approach, according to its Vision Zero Action Plan. The approach makes roadways accessible to pedestrians by anticipating "human mistakes" and "building redundancy into transportation systems, so if one aspect of the system breaks down, there are others in place to prevent life-altering crashes and injuries."
The city has adopted a range of solutions to make its roads safer such as reduced speed limits, more speed humps, bikes lane and sidewalks, among other things. Walking south along the new North Broadway sidewalk, another walking path slopes down from the right. It's intended for walkers and bicyclists to get around an underpass that begins Old Broadway, Gentry said.
The sidewalk used to be a rundown road, he said. It also adapts to East Tennessee's hilly landscape, a fact that is part of Vision Zero projects, he said.
"We will have to find creative solutions, and use roadways — turn those into sidewalks," he said.
As the final months of 2024 approach, Gentry acknowledged that progress hasn't been perfect.
"August in particular was a rough month for our traffic crashes. We had a lot of fatalities in August," he said.
But there is momentum heading into 2025. The federal government recently gave Knoxville about $18 million for Vision Zero road projects along Chapman Highway.
The ultimate endpoint is also two-fold. Gentry said the city will eliminate fatalities from traffic crashes by Vision Zero's 2040 deadline. To do that, the city must change.
"When we reach that, it isn't going to be because of the things that I did. This is going to because the city as a whole, we are reprioritizing the things that we do," he said.