VISION ZERO
COMMITTEE
To promote safety for all street and sidewalk users within the neighborhood by improving street and intersection design and access, following the established principles of Vision Zero*.
*Vision Zero is an internationally adopted strategy to eliminate all traffic-related deaths and severe injuries, while increasing safety, health, and mobility for all.
Get Involved
The Vision Zero Committee meets every 3rd Thursday of the month at 7:00 PM via ZOOM (unless otherwise noted). Check our calendar for upcoming call-in info.
Who Should Get Involved
If you’re interested in improving the walkability and livability of our neighbor, the Vision Zero Committee has many neighborhood-wide projects to join in on.
Walkability Plan
The South of South Walkability Plan (2009) recognizes that targeted public investment in projects to improve walkability will build on the neighborhood’s assets while mitigating existing problems.
The Vision Zero Task Force has been working on implementing our neighborhood's Walkability Plan. The goals of this initiative are to foster a safe and pleasant pedestrian and bicycling environment, to educate residents about safe streetscape design, and to implement well-tested traffic calming measures that improve the safety of our streets for all users. The focus in on improving the experience and safety for pedestrians and bicyclists, whose needs have historically been ignored.
The Walkability Plan recognizes the value of walking, biking, and complete streets to bring vitality to the South of South neighborhood.
School Crosswalks
The SOSNA Vision Zero Committee’s Neighborhood Schools Project will improve the safety of four intersections at two public elementary schools, E.M. Stanton and Chester Arthur. Specifically, it involves the creation of curb “bulb-outs”, highly visible painted pedestrian areas, and vertical delineators to protect the crosswalk areas at four key intersections.
As part of the project, SOSNA will be collaborating with Mural Arts Philadelphia to develop a series of street murals in protected pedestrian areas that will help draw greater awareness to pedestrians and contribute to neighborhood place-making.
Grays Ferry Intersections
The effort to create a plaza at Grays Ferry and South Streets grew out of the initial attempt to address the safety of the intersections at South 23rd and South 24th Streets, Grays Ferry Avenue, and Bainbridge. We met with four City departments in 2011 to review these schemes and generate their interest in working with us. VZTZ will be working to reconvene the stakeholders that met in 2011 to restart this process.
Neighborhood Daylighting
In an effort to improve the safety of all street users, SOSNA is working with the Streets Department and the Philadelphia Parking Authority to enforce cleared crosswalks throughout the neighborhood. Daylighting will enable drivers to more easily see pedestrians, especially shorter ones (like children) and those in wheelchairs, and enable everyone to more easily see oncoming cars before choosing to cross.