Denton council adopts Vision Zero Action Plan to target high‑injury corridors and pursue federal grants

Farhan Bhat, deputy director of transportation services, presented the Vision Zero Action Plan and asked council to adopt a data‑driven framework aligned with federal and state guidance. The plan uses the safe‑system approach and a crash‑data analysis of the last five years to identify a 10‑mile high‑injury network that accounts for roughly 70% of the city’s fatalities and severe injuries.

Staff explained the plan establishes six priority corridors for comprehensive safety audits, ADA assessments, traffic‑operation optimization and engineering countermeasures. Bhat said the plan lists 43 specific actions across five pillars (safer people, safer vehicles, safer speeds, safer roads and post‑crash care) and uses crash modification factors to estimate benefits for countermeasures such as roundabouts and signal changes.

Council members highlighted the plan’s link to the recently presented community survey that prioritized streets and sidewalks. Bhat outlined near‑term grant applications already submitted or planned, including an $800,000 NCTCOG TPI application, a $15 million BUILD application and a $12 million USDOT grant proposal targeting three corridors from the Vision Zero recommendations.

Mayor Pro Tem moved adoption; the council voted 7–0 to adopt the Vision Zero Action Plan. Staff said adoption will strengthen future federal and state grant applications and guide CIP allocations toward prioritized corridor projects.