East-West Gateway Council of Governments’ (EWG) transportation safety initiative focuses on providing a safer transportation system for all users. As part of EWG’s long-range transportation planning process, safety was listed as one of the Ten Guiding Principles in the Long-Range Transportation Plan, Connected 2050.
To implement the strategies in Connected 2050 and through its safety initiative, EWG tracks the progress of transportation safety to ensure that investments in the transportation system reduce both traffic fatalities and serious injuries in absolute terms, but also that crash rates decrease over time to provide a safer transportation system for all users.
In order to make progress towards a downward trend in fatal and serious injury crashes, the following strategies were listed in Connected 2050 and are implemented through EWG’s safety initiative:
- Continue efforts with partners to help develop strategic highway safety plans for each county in the region and publicize key findings.
- Incorporate safety issues identified in state and local strategic highway safety plans into the planning process.
- Support projects that focus on pedestrian safety in the region.
- Collaborate with the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) and the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) to advance and continue teen and elderly driver safety programs.
- Continue to work with partners to integrate complete streets planning that focuses on engineering, education, enforcement, and emergency response.
Bicycle and Pedestrian Crash Analysis
In July of 2018, EWG released two documents titled 2018 Bicycle Crash Analysis and 2018 Pedestrian Crash Analysis. The documents analyze all reported crashes in the EWG region that include a bicycle or a pedestrian. They include maps of the region, charts, graphs, strategies to prevent these crashes, possible funding sources and outside resources for Local Public Agencies.
Strategic Highway Safety Plan
The state Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP) is a federal requirement under the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act. It is a statewide coordinated safety plan developed by the state Department of Transportation with input from local, state, federal and private sector stakeholders. The plan provides a comprehensive framework for reducing highway fatalities and serious injuries on all public roads and identifies key safety needs and guides investment decisions towards strategies and countermeasures with the most potential to save lives and prevent injuries. State SHSPs also set a goal or target to help gauge success in the implementation of the SHSPs.
SHSP Goals and Year-End Total of Fatalities by State
| MO | IL | |
|---|---|---|
| Source: Save MO Lives; Missouri State Highway Patrol; Illinois Department of Transportation. | ||
| Goal | Zero fatalities with an interim goal of 700 or fewer fatalities | Zero fatalities |
| Fatalities by Year | ||
| 2017 | 932 | 1,090 |
| 2018 | 921 | 1,035 |
| 2019 | 881 | 1,010 |
| 2020 | 987 | 1,196 |
| 2021 | 1,016* | 1,341 |
| *Data is preliminary. | ||
Local SHSPs
In order for both Missouri and Illinois to reach their aggressive goals set in their state SHSPs, they both decided to focus on local roads while continuing to improve state routes. MoDOT and IDOT focused on jurisdictions that had a significant number of fatalities and serious injuries and worked with the local entities to develop local SHSPs. The local SHSPs identify emphasis areas, countermeasures, and strategies that attempt to reduce fatal and serious injury crashes.
MoDOT focused on 14 jurisdictions that made up 67% of fatalities on non-state roads. The city of St. Louis and Franklin, Jefferson, St. Charles, and St. Louis counties were all among those 14. The city of St. Louis and the four counties had a SHSP created for their local roads system. Table 1 shows the top three emphasis areas that are included in each of these jurisdiction’s SHSP.
Table 1: Missouri - Top 3 Emphasis Areas on Local Roads
| Franklin County | ||||||
| Jefferson County | ||||||
| St. Charles County | ||||||
| St. Louis County | ||||||
| City of St. Louis | ||||||
IDOT focused on 35 counties with significant number of fatalities and serious injuries. Madison and St. Clair counties were among those 35. IDOT created SHSPs for each of the 35 listed as well as one for Monroe County so each of the three Illinois counties in the St. Louis region would have a local SHSP. Table 2 shows the top three emphasis areas that are included in each of these jurisdiction’s SHSP.
Table 2: Illinois - Top 3 Emphasis Areas on Local Roads
| Madison County | |||||
| Monroe County | |||||
| St. Clair County | |||||
SHSPs, State / Federal Safety Guidance, and Crash Statistics
Use the links below to find more information about transportation and highway safety and to download crash statistics.