DES MOINES, Iowa — The Iowa Department of Transportation says traffic fatalities in Iowa are down from last year, but pedestrian fatalities are much higher.
So far in 2024, there have been 169 traffic related deaths in Iowa. That's 39 less than there were at the same time last year.
In 49% of those fatalities, a seatbelt was worn. That's up from the past years' average of 42%.
It's something Iowa DOT is working to address, but with many projects already on the agenda, when new safety concerns show up it can be difficult to make immediate changes.
"What we can do in terms of programming dollars and getting a facility added to that is the long game," said State Safety Engineer for Iowa DOT, Jan Laaser-Webb. "In the short game, we really need drivers to be looking out for others."
When determining if a road is safe, Iowa DOT looks at many different factors. The biggest factor it is looking for is the potential of crash reduction.
It looks at pavement condition, how heavy traffic is and the configuration or structure.
Northwest 2nd Street, or Highway 415, has now seen two fatalities in the last six months. The road did not initially show up in studies as a safety concern.
As of now, there aren't any plans to make changes to Northwest 2nd Street, but Laaser-Webb believes it could move to a priority after seeing two fatalities.
The difficulties in changing that road come because of many trucks traveling on the road and a heavy business presence.
"It's a narrow roadway as is; it doesn't have a lot of right-of-way and we have a bridge, the I-35, 80, bridges over top of it," Laaser-Webb said. "So, the width of that is also a constraint for us."
It's a long process with a lot of questions and factors to take into consideration.
"Do you take some away from the lanes? Do you make it narrower, which then I know there will be trucks that are saying, no, please do not do that," Laaser-Webb said. "So, something to figure out."