Southwest Butler County municipalities announce regional traffic safety plan
A new initiative uniting four southwestern Butler County municipalities aims to curb serious crashes and make local roads safer for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians.
Cranberry and Jackson townships, along with Zelienople and Harmony, partnered to create the Southwest Butler County Multi-Municipal Safety Action Plan, a collaborative effort to improve road conditions through infrastructure updates, policy changes and education.
The project is mostly funded through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Safe Streets and Roads for All program, which provides grants for both planning and implementation of safety projects. It will cover 80% of the cost, while the municipalities will share the remaining 20% match cost.
In April, Cranberry Township supervisors approved a $305,000 contract with AECOM, an infrastructure consulting firm, to kick start the process.
“It’s really to provide us a plan to look to and say ‘Where are those critical infrastructure needs that are potentially situations that we can improve safety and reduce accidents,’” said Cranberry Township manager Dan Santoro.
The plan identifies two primary strategies for tackling transportation safety.
The Multi-Municipal Action Strategy outlines coordinated policy recommendations and systemwide improvements to boost road safety across all municipalities.
Meanwhile, the High Injury Network Strategy focuses on analyzing the most crash-prone locations and developing targeted solutions to reduce the severity and frequency of accidents in those areas.
In 2024, the four municipalities recorded a combined 353 crashes, just under a quarter of all crashes in Butler County that year, according to the state Department of Transportation. Cranberry Township accounted for the majority with 229 crashes, followed by Jackson Township with 89, Zelienople with 32 and Harmony with three.
Countywide, there were 1,472 reported crashes last year, down from the 1,561 that occurred in 2023. Of those, 869 resulted in property damage only, 588 involved injuries and 15 were fatal.
In addition to the plan being a reference point moving forward, Santoro said it will put the municipalities in a better position to receive future funding.
“It also has a funding and implementation component,” he said. “Doing this planning allows each of our municipalities collectively to go after a pot of funding that would not be available otherwise if we had not completed this safety action plan.”
Organizers say community input is key to shaping both the priorities of the plan and the specific areas that need attention.
Residents, commuters and visitors are encouraged to get involved by:
- Taking a brief transportation safety survey
- Pinpointing concerns using an interactive map
- Submitting a comment or question
- Using the communications tool kit to help spread awareness
The safety survey, which is open until Aug. 15, can be found on the plan’s website, engagekh.mysocialpinpoint.com/SWBCSafetyActionPlan.
