Denver Mayor Mike Johnston is proposing up to $1.6 million next year for “Vision Zero,” the city’s campaign to lower traffic-related death’s to zero by 2030.

The Denver City Council earlier pushed for $550,000 for the program. Johnston, in response, said he wants to add $1 million for road safety.

Several people who showed up to the council’s budget hearing expressed support for Vision Zero, and many recommended more funding for the program. 

Denver counted 60 crash-related deaths so far in 2023, according to the city’s dashboard.

Between 2013 and 2023, the city saw a total of 685 crash-related deaths, averaging 68 a year. During the same timeframe, 260 pedestrians died from traffic-related incidents, city data shows.

In his letter to the council, Johnston said his proposed budget will “reflect a $1 million increase in capital funding available.” The money, he said, would fund safe routes to school and speed studies.

Denver launched Vision Zero in 2015, an idea Sweden first spearheaded in the 1990s. Since then, Sweden has seen a significant drop in traffic fatalities. The country is now known as one of the safest to drive in the world – a record Denver seeks to emulate. 

About 5% of Denver’s streets make up 50% of vehicle fatalities, the city noted. Officials’ preferred solutions are reducing speed limits and creating bike lanes. The streets include South Federal Boulevard, East Colfax Avenue and South Broadway.

The city is also looking to upgrade 134 miles of bike lanes and 120 pedestrian crossings by 2029, as well as add new public transportation lines. 

Notably, Denver wants to reduce speed limits on major streets to 25 mph by 2028, a move that requires the approval of the Colorado Department of Transportation.

The city also plans to increase the use of speed and red light cameras, create a “car-free zone” or “slow zone” implementation guide, and support “community-led placemaking and traffic calming” initiatives.

Johnston’s proposed 2024 budget also includes $8.2 million for 167 police recruits, which would help increase traffic enforcement in the city.

The city’s budget is scheduled for final approval on Nov. 13.