MANATEE — The Bradenton-Sarasota area is among the nation’s most dangerous places for people to walk, a new study has found.
Local pedestrians’ risk of being struck and killed by traffic was 2 1/2 times greater than the national average during a recent two-year period, the Surface Transportation Policy Partnership/Transportation for America joint study found. But it was even more perilous elsewhere in Florida, which ranked as the most-dangerous state for pedestrians.
The study, released Monday, used 2007-08 data on pedestrian fatalities and those who walk to work to calculate a “pedestrian danger index” for 360 U.S. metropolitan areas. Bradenton-Sarasota’s risk score was 126.3 while the national average was 52.1.
The findings didn’t surprise local and state transportation officials, who say Florida’s status as a warm-weather tourist destination is largely to blame for the greater perils faced by pedestrians.
“It’s sad, but we’ve always been one of the worst-ranked states,” said Bob Herrington, planning manager for the Sarasota/Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization, which oversees local transportation planning and sets project priorities. “I think a lot of it has to do with being a tourist state where you can walk or bike virtually year-round. That plays a major role in it.”
The study’s authors agreed, but also blamed road planners for focusing more on moving traffic and giving little or no thought to pedestrians.
“The pressure to move as many cars through these areas as quickly as possible has led transportation departments to squeeze in as many lanes as they can, while designing out sidewalks, crosswalks and crossing signals, on-street parking, and even street trees in order to remove impediments to speeding traffic,” the study said.
Florida also fared so poorly because it, like other southern states, built its road network largely after automobile use became widespread after World War II, the study said.
Florida had 14 of the 50 most dangerous areas, the most of any state. Punta Gorda’s danger index of 398.2 was second only to Macon, Ga. Bradenton-Sarasota was the 58th most-perilous for walkers, 27 of whom died after being struck by traffic during the two-year study period.
Among large metro areas, the four most-dangerous ones were in Florida: Orlando, Tampa, Miami and Jacksonville.
“Orlando tops the list because of its high pedestrian fatality rate of 2.9 pedestrian deaths per 100,000 residents, despite a very low proportion of residents walking to work, only 1.3 percent,” the study said. “In other words, the few people who do walk in Orlando face a relatively high risk of being killed by a vehicle.”
Memphis, Tenn., Raleigh, N.C., Louisville, Ky., Houston, Birmingham, Ala., and Atlanta, all Southern cities, rounded out the worst 10.
The study comes as Congress is writing a six-year transportation funding bill. The study urged Congress to adopt a national “complete streets” policy that places more emphasis on pedestrians, expand the Safe Routes to School program and boost spending on pedestrian-oriented projects.
Duane Marsteller, transportation/growth and development reporter, can be reached at 745-7080, ext. 2630.
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