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Record of Proceedings

Public Safety Committee Special Meeting on Vision Zero Update - November 4, 2026

Metro Council & Committees — Wednesday, November 4, 2026
BodyLouisville, Kentucky
SessionMetro Council & Committees
DateWednesday, November 4, 2026
StatusNEW · FILED
Video Record
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Transcript — Verbatim

Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.

Speaker 1

0:00

Um, there's so many other great baseball players, but I think, you know, the most the thing I'm most proud about is how much they've done for the community, and how much uh, you know, they've they've inspired me to help others.

0:13

Um, you know, I want to be like Justin Turner, Mookie Betts, uh, Jackie Robinson, and then I think, yeah, the Roberto Clemente award is a huge honor.

0:21

I'm really proud of that because, you know, that's that's who he was is somebody that I wanted to help others first.

0:26

I'm trying to do a little bit of that.

0:27

Just carry on that legacy.

Speaker 2

0:30

It's election season.

0:32

Everybody needs to vote.

0:33

Here in Jefferson County.

0:35

They've made it so simple, you don't even have to get out of the car.

Speaker 3

0:38

Drive Through Voting is a pilot program that the county clerk um went to the State Board of Elections and got approval for.

0:45

We are extremely excited because we are hoping that more voters will feel comfortable coming to the drive-through location if they have any mobility issues.

0:55

This is something that will allow them to vote without getting out of their vehicle.

1:00

They will see the election officer, give the election officer their ID, the election officer will verify the voters' eligibility, and then we'll print the correct ballot for them.

1:13

Whatever your address is, your ballot will be accurate for wherever you live.

1:18

Your ballot is going to have the races for your address.

1:21

And then you will take or they will move this express vote over to your vehicle, and this is what you will vote on.

1:29

They'll give you a blank sheet, and you're going to insert that activator right through here.

1:35

And then you touch the screen, and it's a touch screen.

1:38

So you will choose who you want to vote for.

1:59

Once you are finished, you will put your flashers on, and the traffic officer will tell you when it's okay to pull back into the flow of traffic, and you will drive to the very end of all of the voting stalls.

Speaker 4

4:53

Metro TV thirty seconds, please.

5:44

Good afternoon.

5:45

The time is two PM.

5:46

This is a special meeting of the Public Safety Committee.

5:50

I'm your chair, Councilman Dan.

5:53

I'm joined by Councilmember Jenny Mulvey Woolridge.

6:01

Betsy Ruey.

6:04

My co-chair, Councilwoman Tammy Hawkins.

6:10

That's it so far.

6:13

Yeah.

6:14

We do.

6:18

Clerk, will you please read the virtual meeting language?

Speaker 5

6:22

This meeting is being held pursuant to KRS six one dot eight two six and Council Rule five A read and full.

Unassigned speaker

6:29

Thank

Speaker 4

6:29

you, Ms.

6:30

Clerk.

6:30

We have one item on the agenda, and it's a special discussion.

6:34

Today we're joined by Claire Yates and Steph Leonard with the Louisville Metro Department of Transportation for an update on Vision Zero.

6:43

Thank you for being here today.

6:46

Please state your name and title for the record, and you may begin.

Speaker 6

6:50

Claire Yates, executive administrator.

Speaker 7

6:56

Steph Leonard, Transportation Planner Two.

Unassigned speaker

7:03

All right.

Speaker 6

7:06

Thank you, Chair, for the invitation to present today.

7:14

Today we'll be talking a bit about Vision Zero Louisville, which is the city's transportation safety initiative.

7:22

So Vision Zero is based on the premise that traffic deaths are preventable.

Unassigned speaker

7:46

It

Speaker 6

7:46

doesn't mean that we'll necessarily get there, but that does mean that we need to make every effort to get there.

8:02

And the safe system approach.

Speaker 7

9:00

Two of our strategies today.

9:02

I'll start with the Safer Road strategy, which involves designing roadway environments to mitigate human mistakes and account for human injury tolerances to encourage safer behaviors and to facilitate safe travel for the most vulnerable road users.

9:19

So people who are walking, bicycling, people with disabilities, children and older adults.

9:25

So really with a focus on those who have less ability to really that piece of like accounting for human injury tolerances.

9:38

So like younger people and older people have less of a injury tolerance.

9:44

So to guide this strategy and our roadway designs, the Oval Metro analyzed historical crash data and developed the high injury network that you see on the screen.

Unassigned speaker

9:55

A

Speaker 7

9:56

high injury network is a data-driven approach which identifies non-interstate roadway segments that account for additional disproportionate amount of a community's fatal and serious injury crashes.

10:10

Developing a high injury network is a national best practice among vision zero communities.

10:16

This valuable assessment provides a focus list of corridors where a majority of our fatal and suspected injury crashes are occurring.

10:24

So we can focus our limited resources on improving safety on high priority corridors.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Transportation Safety█████████████████████████████████████████████61%
Public Safety███████████15%
Data Analysis████6%
Miscellaneous████5%
Public Engagement████5%
Technology and Innovation████5%
Procedural██3%
Summary of Proceedings

Public Safety Committee Special Meeting: Vision Zero Update

On Wednesday, November 4, 2026, at 2:00 PM, the Louisville Metro Public Safety Committee held a special meeting to receive an update on the Vision Zero initiative from Claire Yates (Executive Administrator) and Steph Leonard (Transportation Planner II) of the Louisville Metro Department of Transportation. The meeting focused on traffic safety strategies, data collection, and ongoing projects.

Discussion Items

  • Vision Zero Overview: Claire Yates and Steph Leonard presented the city's transportation safety initiative, which is based on the premise that traffic deaths are preventable. They highlighted the "safe system approach," emphasizing safer road design (e.g., Complete Streets) and safer speed management.
  • High Injury Network: The analysis shows that only 5% of non-interstate road miles account for 55% of fatal and serious injury crashes. 85% of these high-injury network miles are owned by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC), requiring close partnership.
  • Speed Management Plan: Finalized in March 2025, the plan recommends policy changes, street design, education, and enforcement. A survey of over 1,400 people found that 85% believe Louisville Metro should do more to reduce speeding. The city has funded speed probe data acquisition (FY27) and acquired two mobile speed feedback trailers.
  • World Day of Remembrance: The fifth annual event for road traffic victims will be held Sunday, November 15, 2026, at 4:00 PM at TARC's Union Station (10th & Broadway).
  • Councilmember Betsy Ruhe (R-21): Asked about speed sign placement standards (current standard unknown; plan recommends evaluating feasibility every quarter mile) and speed tables. She discussed a specific street (one lane each direction) where speed tables might be the only viable option.
  • Councilmember Andrew Owen (D-9): Noted the tension between public demand for slowing traffic and strong opposition to street calming projects. He requested a data dashboard showing before-and-after crash and injury data for projects like right-sizing on Frankfort Avenue and Lexington Road, to help justify changes to residents. Steph Leonard responded that the new speed probe data (available from October 2024) can support before/after analyses, and a SAFER Streets and Roads for All grant is funding an epidemiologist to link crash and hospital data for more accurate severity reporting.
  • Councilmember Jonathan Joseph (R-12): Questioned why Dixie Highway is treated as a single 14.5-mile segment in the High Injury Network, while other roads (e.g., Broadway, 7th Street) are broken into smaller pieces. He argued this generalization hinders pinpointing specific issues. Claire Yates noted that the methodology already segments Dixie Highway, but each segment ranked high. He also raised concerns about emergency response times on Dixie Highway due to new medians, asking if data tracks first responder times. Staff offered to check with emergency services. A KYTC corridor study for South Dixie Highway is expected to begin within weeks.
  • Councilmember Ginny Mulvey-Woolridge (R-24): Expressed enthusiasm for the speed data and asked when data collection would begin (kickoff meeting by end of 2026). She questioned whether the data can evaluate the effectiveness of speed humps and other traffic calming measures; staff confirmed that specific traffic studies can supplement the general data.
  • Councilmember Betsy Ruhe: Requested data on the effectiveness of past safety investments on Dixie Highway, and discussed the need for equal pre- and post-implementation timeframes for comparison. She also advocated for automated enforcement cameras (red-light and speed) noting that a Florida ticket changed her behavior. Councilmember Bell (Director) noted that the speed management committee includes multiple agencies, and while engineering can reduce speeds, education and driver behavior are also critical. He mentioned a current camera enforcement program on interstates in work zones where tickets are issued via trooper pull-over, but fully automated civil citations have not passed at the state level.

Key Outcomes

  • No formal votes or actions were taken; the meeting was a special discussion only.
  • Staff will follow up on specific data requests:
    • Provide baseline speed sign placement standards.
    • Share data on Dixie Highway safety project effectiveness.
    • Explore first responder time tracking options.
    • Investigate feasibility of creating a public dashboard with before/after crash data for completed projects.
  • The next regular Public Safety Committee meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, November 18, 2026, at 4:00 PM.

Meeting Transcript

Um, there's so many other great baseball players, but I think, you know, the most the thing I'm most proud about is how much they've done for the community, and how much uh, you know, they've they've inspired me to help others. Um, you know, I want to be like Justin Turner, Mookie Betts, uh, Jackie Robinson, and then I think, yeah, the Roberto Clemente award is a huge honor. I'm really proud of that because, you know, that's that's who he was is somebody that I wanted to help others first. I'm trying to do a little bit of that. Just carry on that legacy. It's election season. Everybody needs to vote. Here in Jefferson County. They've made it so simple, you don't even have to get out of the car. Drive Through Voting is a pilot program that the county clerk um went to the State Board of Elections and got approval for. We are extremely excited because we are hoping that more voters will feel comfortable coming to the drive-through location if they have any mobility issues. This is something that will allow them to vote without getting out of their vehicle. They will see the election officer, give the election officer their ID, the election officer will verify the voters' eligibility, and then we'll print the correct ballot for them. Whatever your address is, your ballot will be accurate for wherever you live. Your ballot is going to have the races for your address. And then you will take or they will move this express vote over to your vehicle, and this is what you will vote on. They'll give you a blank sheet, and you're going to insert that activator right through here. And then you touch the screen, and it's a touch screen. So you will choose who you want to vote for. Once you are finished, you will put your flashers on, and the traffic officer will tell you when it's okay to pull back into the flow of traffic, and you will drive to the very end of all of the voting stalls. Metro TV thirty seconds, please. Good afternoon. The time is two PM. This is a special meeting of the Public Safety Committee. I'm your chair, Councilman Dan. I'm joined by Councilmember Jenny Mulvey Woolridge. Betsy Ruey. My co-chair, Councilwoman Tammy Hawkins. That's it so far. Yeah. We do. Clerk, will you please read the virtual meeting language? This meeting is being held pursuant to KRS six one dot eight two six and Council Rule five A read and full. Thank you, Ms. Clerk. We have one item on the agenda, and it's a special discussion. Today we're joined by Claire Yates and Steph Leonard with the Louisville Metro Department of Transportation for an update on Vision Zero. Thank you for being here today. Please state your name and title for the record, and you may begin. Claire Yates, executive administrator. Steph Leonard, Transportation Planner Two. All right. Thank you, Chair, for the invitation to present today. Today we'll be talking a bit about Vision Zero Louisville, which is the city's transportation safety initiative. So Vision Zero is based on the premise that traffic deaths are preventable. It doesn't mean that we'll necessarily get there, but that does mean that we need to make every effort to get there. And the safe system approach. Two of our strategies today.

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