Written by Kara Hopkins, News Editor
Roanoke has dedicated many resources to traffic safety in the past years; with the inclusion of speed check cameras on I-81 in construction-heavy areas, improved bicycle lanes, cameras in intersections and parking lots, and media campaigns for citizens.
WDBJ7 News reports that Roanoke City Council received the Highway Safety Grant from the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) on Monday, Oct. 19. This grant has the capacity for Roanoke City to improve and monitor traffic safety.
Each year, Roanoke applies for grants from the DMV to benefit the area. For the last eight years, Roanoke City has received this very safety grant. However each year, Roanoke chooses a different area of concern to allocate the money towards based on the city’s specific needs at the time.
In the past, WSLS10 News reports that Roanoke City has used the funds to support the Change Lanes to Pass, Keep Each Other Safe, and Slow Your Roll campaigns. These grants included funds for road and infrastructure changes, art and mural dedications, and media campaigns.
The goal of the grant and the safety awareness campaign this upcoming year is to reduce injury and fatality in traffic encounters as part of the Vision Zero initiative.
The Vision Zero Network is a national community that seeks to end traffic fatalities in specific communities. They believe in implementing “safe systems”, where roads are resigned to be safer for drivers, passengers, and pedestrians. According to their website, there have been many success stories for the initiative, and traffic deaths in 2025 went down 12% compared to 2024.
According to the Roanoke City website, the Vision Zero initiative has been enacted since 2020. However, pledges have been made recently in 2026 as part of the Roanoke Safety Action Plan to end traffic deaths and serious injuries by 2035. They wish to shift the paradigm, explaining that car crashes are not “accidents”, but rather preventable events.
Roanoke claims to achieve this by re-engineering roads to be safer, creating new city-planning principles, educating vehicle users, and “creating a sense of collective responsibility”, the website states.
They include a link to a survey on their website for citizens to include their input on specific roads, as well as certain areas that the community senses need improvement.
Each year, Roanoke picks a select focus for the Zero Vision initiative. This year’s theme will be supplemented by the grant, but has not been clearly defined.
