Lakewood City Council looking into new ordinance to increase street safety

LAKEWOOD, Ohio (WOIO) - The Lakewood City Council is looking into introducing a Complete Streets ordinance at the council meeting in two weeks.

On Monday night, the council talked about introducing the legislation.

The goal is to increase safety for pedestrians, drivers, bicyclists, and transit riders.

The intersection of Hilliard and Madison has recently become a major safety concern for drivers and pedestrians.

Back in March, according to Lakewood Fire, a father who was riding his bike with his two young children was struck by a car on Madison Avenue.

According to a family member, the three-year-old was hospitalized and may need surgery.

In December 2024, retired 19 News Reporter Bill Safos was hit and killed while crossing the street at the same intersection.

Lakewood City Council President Sarah Kepple hopes the Complete Streets ordinance can be a possible solution.

“This is following up on the work we did last year with the Active Transportation Plan and Safe Streets for All and what that does is it looks at making sure that every time we’re doing big projects, we’re looking at Complete Streets solutions,” Kepple said. “Should we put in curb bump outs or raised crosswalks or flexi posts or other sort of solutions.”

She said another component would be a citizen advisory board.

“I’m really excited about that because that’s going to combine the expertise of our staff here at city hall with citizens who have lived experience of those intersections,” Kepple said.