Ashland adopts Safe Streets safety action plan, aims to cut high-risk crashes 50% by 2040

Ashland’s Board of City Commissioners adopted a Safe Streets and Roads for All safety action plan May 28, a planning document developed with engineering firm LJB using police and crash data. The plan ranks high-crash locations and recommends a mix of engineering improvements—ranging from guardrails and signage to larger curve realignments—and is tied to federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding for local planning.

City engineering staff and Chief Todd Kelly briefed the commission on the plan, explaining it compiles crash and police data to identify priority segments and propose short- and long-term improvements. As part of grant requirements, the city must adopt a goal statement; the plan sets an aspirational target to reduce high-risk crashes by 50% by 2040.

The commission adopted the resolution to include the action plan in grant application materials. Staff said some proposed improvements are large-scale engineering projects while others are lower-cost items such as lighting and signage; implementation will follow prioritized recommendations and available funding.