Cleveland Neighborhood Traffic Calming Update

The City of Cleveland is using resident feedback and data to refine its traffic calming approach and inform next steps to create slower streets in alignment with  Vision Zero Cleveland .

Vision Zero is a systems approach to eliminate serious injuries and deaths from crashes on Cleveland roads through clear, measurable strategies to provide safe, healthy, and equitable mobility for all.

Traffic calming is defined as  street design solutions that slow vehicle speeds and make streets safer for all road users.  Traffic calming elements may include things like:

• Speed tables, humps, and bumps
• Chicanes
• Roundabouts
• Street trees
• On-street parking

In general, traffic calming strategies alter physical configurations and perceptions of streets in ways that encourage driving more slowly, taking greater caution around other street users, and increasing awareness of surroundings.

From 2016 to 2020, there were 19,000 serious injuries and fatalities in traffic crashes in Cleveland. Almost half of the fatalities were speed-related.

Speed is a major factor in how destructive and dangerous traffic crashes will be. While everyone intuitively understands that higher speeds are generally more dangerous (especially in terms of highway travel), it is less known that crash severity begins to climb dramatically at relatively lower speeds, around 20 miles per hour (mph).

One study shows that 10% of pedestrian-related crashes resulted in death at vehicle speeds of 23 mph. The probability of pedestrian death rises to 25% at 32 mph. A difference of only 9 mph more than doubles the chance of pedestrian fatality in a crash. This is why effectively reducing vehicle speeds through traffic calming is vitally important to public safety and quality of life.

• Increase the quality of life for residents by creating safer, calmer streets,
• Reduce the chance of serious injury or death if a crash does happen,
• Expand local experience with street design interventions that reinforce lower speeds in residential areas, and
• Inform citywide traffic calming programs and guidance in alignment with the Vision Zero Cleveland initiative.

These data will inform the continued development of traffic calming policy to address speeding concerns throughout Cleveland. As future traffic count data and resident feedback are collected, they will be added to the City's maps and used to refine its approach.

Do you have questions or comments?

Looking for existing traffic reports? Access the Traffic Count Lookup tool to explore.

Interested in the City's Neighborhood Traffic Calming Initiative?