Carmel launches community Transportation Safety Survey

Submitted by City of Carmel

The Carmel Engineering Department is asking community members, commuters and visitors to share their input on local road and trail safety through a new Transportation Safety Survey.

The survey is supported by funding from a $280,000 federal Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) grant awarded to the city in September 2024 by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration. To help execute the survey and develop the resulting Comprehensive Safety Action Plan, Carmel has partnered with engineering firm American Structurepoint, Inc.

The feedback gathered through this collaboration will help guide future infrastructure investments, identify specific intersections or corridors needing improvement, and directly inform the city’s upcoming Safety Action Plan. The plan aims to enhance travel safety across all modes of transportation, including driving, walking, bicycling, running, and using micromobility devices.

Importantly, city officials will use the community’s feedback alongside its engineering data, safety analysis and knowledge of Carmel’s transportation network to identify opportunities for improvement.

“The goal is not simply to identify where people experience safety concerns, but to better understand why those concerns occur and how engineering solutions can address them,” City Engineer Bradley Pease said. “Carmel has always approached transportation safety by looking at the entire system and how people actually use it. Whether you drive through one of our roundabouts, walk along a neighborhood sidewalk or multi-use path, run on a trail, or ride your bike on the Monon Greenway, your experience provides valuable information that we can combine with engineering data to identify opportunities to make our transportation network safer and more effective. This survey gives the people who use our system every day, a direct voice in that process.”

The survey takes approximately eight to 10 minutes to complete, and participants can highlight specific roadways, crosswalks, or trail connections where they feel unsafe and offer on potential solutions, such as raised crosswalks, Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons, improved lighting, or improved pavement markings.

The public can complete the Transportation Safety Survey online and paper copies are also available upon request at Carmel City Hall during standard business hours.

Team members from Carmel’s Engineering Department and American Structurepoint, Inc. will also be available in person to answer questions and gather input at the Carmel Farmers Market on Sept. 22 and 29.