New Orleans plans safer streets after 36 traffic deaths

The big picture: DOT awarded the city a $750,000 grant to develop a comprehensive safety action plan, Councilmember Eugene Green said at a recent meeting.

• The state's DOTD is also funding a separate health department initiative to reduce alcohol-impaired crashes.

By the numbers: NOPD has investigated 35 fatal crashes as of mid-September, which is down 18% from the same time last year.

• Seventeen of those crashes were vehicles versus a pedestrian, the data shows.
• Four more involved a motorcycle, and another two involved bicycles.

Zoom in: St. Claude Avenue has been a hot spot in recent months.

• Two cyclists were killed over the summer after being hit by vehicles, WWNO reports.
• The state DOTD is doing a traffic safety study for the corridor that focuses on infrastructure solutions.

Zoom out: Louisiana had the second-highest pedestrian fatality rate in the country in 2022, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association.

• The rate has since improved, but the state still ranks in the top five nationally.

Editor's note: This story has been corrected to reflect that the money for the DUI program is from the state's DOTD (not from the city).

Go deeper

• Louisiana is 2nd-deadliest state for pedestrians
• Bike safety in New Orleans 5 years after the deadly Mardi Gras crash