City of McAllen asking for public's help on transportation system goals

McALLEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — The City of McAllen is allowing the public to review its Vision Zero Plan, which hopes to bring down to zero any deaths and major injuries in its transportation system.

This comes after months of surveying over 600 people and gathering information from a consulting firm. They are now asking the public for more input before they take it to City Hall in late August.

Between 2018 and 2023, more than 39,000 people were involved in some kind of crash in the city of McAllen.

318 of those either died or were seriously injured. The accidents happened with cars, bikes, motorcycles, trains and even those walking on a city street.

The Vision Zero Action Plan calls for putting a stop to those accidents.

New McAllen resident Christine Gerin says she feels safe driving in the city but still argues more can be done.

“By the schools make sure people go more slow and more warning signs perhaps and also signs in sidewalks for people with disabilities to make them larger, so they can go with their wheelchairs," Gerin said.

City of McAllen Assistant Director of Engineering for Traffic Operations Marlen Garza says this is the kind of input she is looking for from residents.

The draft report shows several high-injury network areas in which accidents are more frequent and lists potential solutions. Garza says with the community input they will be able to understand what areas are hotspots or possibly overlooked.

“We do have a lot of people that feel that they need to cross at a certain location and that might not necessarily be at a signal light intersection where they are protected, but rather sometimes they feel like taking that risk and crossing in the middle of the street through six lanes and it is something that they deem an easier, and not necessarily safer move," Garza said.

The comments will also help them make any final changes to the report before it is presented to the city commission.

Once adopted, Garza says then the City will apply for federal funding for such projects by gaining the safe streets for all certification.

Gerin believes the action plan can be effective as long as it brings some deaths and injuries down.

“I don’t know zero but as long as it decreases, it is good.”

Provided are some of the sites where the City of McAllen will have the draft report available for the public to read and comment on:

• Lark Community Center, 2601 Lark Ave.
• McAllen Public Library, 4001 N. 23rd St.
• Las Palmas Community Center, 1921 N. 25th St.
• McAllen Development Center, 311 N. 15th St.
• Palm View Community Center, 3401 Jordan Rd. W

The full report can also be found online here.