Sioux Falls City Council to Discuss ‘Safer People, Safer Streets’ Initiative

Today is an important day in deciding how safe the Sioux Falls city streets will be in the future.

The Sioux Falls City Council is expected to meet today, July 7, 2015 regarding the ‘Safer People, Safer Streets’ initiative, created three years ago by Anthony Foxx, Secretary of Transportation, and adopted recently by Mayor Mike Huether.

As bicycling, walking and public transit have become more popular, more than 200 communities around the country have adopted a complete street focus that aims at creating a safe environment for all that use the road ways. It has become an important focus for a country that saw over 5,000 fatalities in 2012.

If the new initiative is passed it could mean more bike paths in Sioux Falls, like on Russell Street, connecting area neighborhoods in the city.

According to Huether, if we do a better job of connecting the neighborhoods people will rely more on other forms of transportation like bikes which would lead to more economic development.

Huether cited all the things we've already done up to this point to invest in the quality of life in our town. The new event centers, new parks, new libraries, new bike trails. There are stores popping up everywhere, new employers that are coming into our town to capture the vibrancy of the city. He added, “However, we have to provide other ways to get to those places.”

If the ‘Safer People, Safer Streets’ initiative is passed, it wouldn’t mean that every street would be redesigned. The more popular streets would see this face lift first according to Huether.

Source: KDLT