Over the past two years, 15 people in Cincinnati were killed in crashes involving speeding, prompting the city to expand traffic-calming measures that officials say have reduced speeding by an average of 48%.
Melissa McVay, bicycle and pedestrian safety program manager, presented her team’s work from last year and outlined upcoming projects during the Climate, City Services and Infrastructure Committee meeting on April 14.
McVay said the program focuses on neighborhood streets across the city, using crash, speed and transit data to identify areas for safety improvements for pedestrians and cyclists.
“On average, we’ve seen a 48% decrease in driver speeding,” she said.
Councilman Mark Jeffreys said the work is helping save lives.
“Those are human lives, and our number one job is to keep people safe,” Jeffreys said. “There are 5 to 10 people per year who are dying on our streets, let alone people seriously injured.”
McVay said her team closely monitors drivers traveling over 40 mph on roads like Beechmont Avenue, where pedestrians struck at that speed face a high risk of death or serious injury.
On Beechmont Avenue in Mount Washington, 25% of drivers were previously traveling over 40 mph. After traffic-calming improvements, that number dropped to 3%, McVay said.
“To put that into context, on Beechmont Avenue in Mount Washington, that’s about 14,000 drivers less than 40 mph in two days,” she said.
Councilman Ryan James said the results show a strong return on investment.
“You always wonder what our safety return on investment is. So that’s just some fantastic finding,” James said.
McVay also showed Warsaw Avenue in East Price Hill as another example of the program’s impact. Average speeds there dropped from 37 mph between 2021 and 2023 to 16 mph in 2025 after speed cushions and humps were installed.
McVay said speeding remains widespread on certain roads, estimating that about 90% of drivers exceed speed limits on some streets, including Colerain Avenue, Beechmont Avenue and Glenway Avenue.
On Glenway Avenue, the city installed four smaller speed humps. McVay said feedback has been mixed.
The program also tested a stop hump pilot in Pendleton, a thin speed bump placed before a stop sign. McVay said the city has received inquiries from other municipalities interested in the design.
“It seems to be working,” she said. “We are seeing fewer people blow through the stop sign there. This is a location where a young child was hit by a car a few years ago, so it was a huge neighborhood priority.”
The Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Program works with neighborhoods to identify two priority streets for improvements, per the budget cycle. McVay said the team uses traffic and crash data to guide decisions.
The program completed 86 improvements across 22 neighborhoods last year and has 35 additional projects planned across nine neighborhoods this year. Improvements include speed cushions, speed tables, raised crosswalks and curb extensions.
Committee Chair Meeka Owens said pedestrian safety remains the city’s top priority.
“The fact is that you’re calming streets and making it safer for pedestrians, and that is number one,” Owens said. “That is all that matters.”