Mayor Cowell Aims to Cut Traffic Deaths in Half by 2040

Raleigh recorded more than 19,000 car crashes in 2023, killing 41 people. Mayor Janet Cowell wants that number cut in half before 2040, and on Friday she outlined the roadmap to get there.

The initiative, part of Raleigh's Vision Zero program, sets an interim goal of reducing traffic fatalities and serious injuries by 50 percent by 2040, with full elimination of deadly crashes as the longer-term target. The urgency is underscored by recent trends: in 2022, Raleigh recorded 59 total fatalities across 53 fatal crashes, a 55 percent spike that helped accelerate the city's push toward a structured safety framework.

"Vision Zero and the Comprehensive Safety Action Plan are about taking a proactive approach," Cowell said. "In a rapidly growing city like Raleigh, every safety improvement we make is essential to preventing future tragedies and protecting our community."

Raleigh is the second-fastest-growing large metro area in the United States, a distinction that makes road safety planning both more urgent and more complex. The city secured a $1 million Safe Streets and Roads for All federal grant and awarded the resulting Comprehensive Safety Action Plan contract to engineering firm WSP in early 2024. That 18-month study is working to identify which locations would most benefit from infrastructure upgrades, including protected left-turn lanes, and to pinpoint behavioral risks such as speeding and seatbelt non-compliance.

Specific corridors are already in progress. Signal upgrades and accessible pedestrian signal installations are underway at Capital Boulevard and Calvary Drive. Pedestrian safety improvements and signal upgrades along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard from Salisbury Street to Poole Road are set to begin construction in Fall 2026. Downtown Raleigh's second phase of pedestrian safety improvements is also slated for Fall 2026. School zones have not been overlooked: Dillard Middle School and Harris Creek Elementary are both scheduled for intersection work this year, following completed projects at Riverbend Elementary and Wakefield Middle and High schools. In total, the city has secured more than $10 million in pedestrian and traffic safety funding in partnership with NCDOT.

The city also recently discontinued its Safelight red-light camera program, a move Vision Zero Program Manager Sean Driskill said was designed to broaden the safety focus. "Giving us more of a system-wide approach will allow us to focus resources on more than just those intersections, but many other intersections around Raleigh that have similar safety concerns," Driskill said.

With the Comprehensive Safety Action Plan nearing completion and construction timelines set across multiple neighborhoods, Raleigh's 2040 target is no longer just a policy aspiration. It now has a project list, a budget, and a calendar attached to it.