Palm Beach Gardens adopts Vision 0 action plan to eliminate severe traffic injuries and deaths

Palm Beach Gardens on Tuesday voted 5-0 to adopt the Vision 0 Action Plan, a data-driven traffic-safety strategy funded through the U.S. Department of Transportation Safe Streets for All planning grant that sets targets to eliminate severe traffic injuries and fatalities on city-owned roads by 2030 and citywide by 2040.

Joanne Scoria, assistant director of planning and zoning, told the council the work began in 2020 and accelerated after the city won the federal planning grant. "We were awarded a planning grant to develop a comprehensive safety action plan," Scoria said, adding that staff formed a working group and selected consultant Kimley Horn through a competitive procurement process.

Brad Davis of Kimley Horn said the plan combines crash-data analysis and public input and stresses both infrastructure and noninfrastructure actions such as enforcement and education. "There are an average of three crashes per day in the city over the past five years, and about one serious-injury or fatal crash per month," Davis said. He told the council that only four severe crashes occurred on city-owned streets in the recent dataset, which supported the more immediate 2030 target for city streets, while the citywide 2040 goal will require coordination with Palm Beach County and the Florida Department of Transportation.

The analysis showed that 95% of the city's most severe crashes occur on roads the city does not own. Five roads account for 73% of severe crashes, and Northlake Boulevard and PGA Boulevard together account for 51% of the city's severe crashes, the presentation said. The plan therefore includes a "high injury network" covering 12% of the roadway mileage where 83% of severe crashes occur to prioritize interventions.

The plan recommends continuing the Vision 0 staff working group, pursuing federal and state implementation grants (including SS4A implementation funding), publishing annual safety reports to track outcomes and seeking targeted improvements at identified high-crash intersections. Staff and consultants emphasized education campaigns targeting e-bikes and other vulnerable road users; council members noted existing local media campaigns and a planned permanent traffic garden for children.

The council's vote adopts Resolution 82-2025 and makes the city eligible for SS4A implementation grants and other funding opportunities to carry out projects identified in the plan.

Resolution 82-2025 passed 5-0.