Switch to a different priority:
A productive street effortlessly attracts visitors, businesses, and residents — and the tax revenue they generate. But productivity has a prerequisite that cities often overlook: the street needs to be slow, safe, and walkable.
Sacramento has one of the highest driver-caused fatality rates in the nation. In 2024, 32 pedestrians were killed on our streets, rivaling the number of murder-homicides. The root cause isn’t reckless drivers — it’s street design. Wide lanes, long sightlines, and highway-style geometry tell your brain “go fast,” regardless of the speed limit. When the street feels like a freeway, people drive like it’s one.
Our Actions
That’s why we’ve been advocating for better Street Design Standards — narrower lanes, shorter crossings, street trees, and other features that naturally slow traffic without relying on signs or enforcement. Better standards won’t fix our streets overnight, but with over 1,600 miles of city-owned streets that constantly need rebuilds, let’s make sure each project is done right.
We’re also proving change doesn’t have to wait. In 2024, we completed one of the city’s first community-led quick-build projects — using paint and traffic cones to extend a curb with the Tahoe Park Neighborhood Association. Traffic slowed by an average of 6 MPH, helping spark the city’s quick-build plan adopted in March 2025. After AB 413 eliminated parking near crosswalks so drivers and pedestrians can actually see each other, we hosted walk audits to identify non-compliant streets and reported them to the city.
Join our Street Design Standards working group or one of our Walk Audits to help make a difference.
Gallery
