After another pedestrian dies, Sacramento road safety emergency resolution clears hurdle
A proposal to declare a state of emergency to improve pedestrian and cyclist safety passed its first hurdle before a Sacramento committee Tuesday — less than a week after the city saw its 31st traffic death of 2024.
The four members of the City Council’s Law and Legislation Committee voted unanimously to approve the draft resolution but not before striking a portion of the proposal that would have directed police to step up enforcement of traffic violations.
Vice Mayor Caity Maple, who serves on the committee and submitted the draft declaration with the support of Mayor Darrell Steinberg and Mayor Pro Tem Karina Talamantes, said she had realized after discussions with community members and advocates that the city should instead focus its efforts — and, hopefully, general funds — on the most effective strategy to eliminate traffic fatalities: changing infrastructure.
The proposed state of emergency does not demand that money be directed to the Department of Public Works, which is almost entirely dependent on unreliable grant funding for road safety projects.
Councilwoman Katie Valenzuela said it was imperative that the city direct general funds toward infrastructure projects in the upcoming budget after years of declining to do so.
She said she wanted to “just express my concern that this won’t change anything, and my ardent hope that it does. ... I hope that we have the political courage to do what’s gonna be necessary to make this emergency declaration real.”
Maple said the timing of her proposal was aimed at getting dollars allocated toward solutions that could save lives.
“It is prior to an upcoming budget process that we’re gonna have to do at the city,” Maple said. “And, so, I hope that if we are in a space that we decide as a council to say ‘this is a priority,’ that this is the emergency — that I know it is, and that I think that many others do, too — that that comes along with those hard conversations during the budget process.”
In 2017, Sacramento leaders made a “Vision Zero” promise to eliminate all traffic fatalities and serious injuries by 2027. While the Department of Public Works has executed some safety-enhancing projects, the death toll has continued to rise, and city officials are on track to fail to fulfill that 10-year commitment.
In the current budget, the city declined to earmark $10.7 million to fund the Active Transportation Commission’s recommendations, citing the ongoing budget deficit. Last June, the City Council closed a $66 million deficit by raising fees and cutting back on some city services. Sacramento still faces an estimated shortfall of $77 million for the 2025-26 fiscal year.
Valenzuela pointed out that the Sacramento Police Department budget had increased by $100 million over her four years on the council.
“What about the rest of public safety?” she asked.
The toll is stark. The Sacramento Bee has reported on the deaths of 31 people in traffic collisions on city streets this year. Of those, 19 were pedestrians or cyclists: Mattie Nicholson, 56; Kate Johnston, 55; Jeffrey Blain, 59; Aaron Ward, 40; Sam Dent, 41; Terry Lane, 55; David Rink, 51; James Lind, 54; Tyler Vandehei, 32; Jose Valladolid Ramirez, 36; Larry Winters, 76; Sau Voong, 84; Johnnie A. Fite, 82; Robert Kohler Jr., 50; Edward Lopez, 61; Muhammad Saddique, 64; Azure Amonti Daniels, 48; Jordan Nicolas Rodriguez, 38; and Nelson Lee, 64, who died last Wednesday. Two more people — Geohaira “Geo” Sosa, 32, and Kaylee Xiong, 18 — were killed this summer while riding electric scooters.
Another roadway death occurred Saturday just outside the city limits where a bicyclist was struck along 65th Expressway and Florin Road, according to the California Highway Patrol. Officers said Tuesday that the cyclist, a 42-year-old woman had died the following day.
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Councilman Rick Jennings said during the committee’s hearing that he believed the Department of Public Works needed “a dedicated and ongoing source of funding. If, in fact, we keep using the excuse of our budget deficit or not having the money, we’ve gotta focus on finding the money and making sure that we focus on this priority.”
Jennings — who represents parts of south Sacramento including Land Park and the Pocket and Greenhaven neighborhoods — pointed out a constituent of his who was sitting in the audience: Alena Wong. Now 17, she almost died at 12 after being hit by a car while riding her bike to school. He said he was relieved that she wasn’t among the dead, and that instead of talking about her in the past tense, he could say she was full of potential, on track to go to college.
Xiong, an 18-year-old who was struck and killed Sept. 4 near Franklin Boulevard and Cosumnes River Boulevard, had just started her first semester at Sacramento State after graduating from Valley High School in the spring.
This story was originally published November 12, 2024 at 3:57 PM.
