Lakeland commissioners are considering a series of quick, high-impact actions to reduce the city’s high traffic fatality rate. But residents may not like some of them.
The proposals, which were presented to the commission on Friday, include:
- Installing speed detection cameras in school zones to cite anyone going more than 10 miles over the limit.
- Adding eight more red light cameras at intersections with lots of angle crashes.
- Reducing speed limits in neighborhoods, perhaps mimicking Jacksonville’s “20 is plenty” program.
- Installing more lights at crosswalks and intersections, particularly where pedestrians tend to be after dark.
The recommendations were part of a general Vision Zero Action Plan the commission is expected to approve at its meeting on Monday. The cameras and speed limit changes would require separate votes, possibly within the next few months.
Why it matters: Lakeland has an average of 14 vehicle crashes each day. Last year, there were 4,801 crashes within the city limits resulting in 84 serious injuries and 19 deaths.
Vision Zero: Lakeland began discussing Vision Zero — a multinational program to reduce traffic deaths to zero — more than a decade ago. However, serious efforts have picked up in the past few years with several grant-funded studies.
Emphasis on school zones
City Traffic Operations Manager Tess Schwartz said school zones are a particularly high priority because 25 Polk County Public Schools students were involved in vehicle-vs-pedestrian crashes during the 2023-2024 school year, many while they were walking to school.
Thirteen of those students died, including Jaxon Crabtree, a 15-year-old Central Florida Aerospace Academy student hit by a school bus while trying to cross West Pipkin Road.
RELATED: Dark roads, fast cars: Lakeland can be deadly for pedestrians and cyclists
“That really hit me hard,” said Schwartz, who has a 15-year-old son.
School zone cameras: The Florida Legislature passed a bill in 2023 allowing speed detection systems in school zones, with a few requirements. Local governments have to enact an ordinance, make sure signs are visible and give a 30-day warning period before beginning enforcement.
The proposed cameras would capture two images: the first showing the vehicle driving over the speed limit and the second showing a close-up of the license plate.
Verra Mobility, the company that provides the city’s red light cameras, studied 13 Lakeland school zones last May. The company identified a potential of 2,992 violations per day, of which 1,350 were while flashing lights were active.
Speed detection systems in school zones can be active all day, not just during designated times in the morning and afternoon. Each violation carries a state-mandated $100 fine.
Several Central Florida cities have installed cameras in school zones including Tampa, Orlando, Sarasota, Lake Alfred, Lake Wales and Haines City.
Red light cameras: Lakeland installed its first red light cameras in 2009, and has added more in the years since. LPD Sgt. Chad Mumbauer said the program is extremely effective; 85% of the people who receive a $158 ticket do not get cited again.
The intersections proposed for new cameras are:
- Memorial Boulevard at Brunell Parkway
- Florida Avenue at George Jenkins Boulevard
- Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue at George Jenkins Boulevard
- Memorial Boulevard at North Florida Avenue
- Bartow Road at New Jersey Road
- Bartow Road at East Orange Street
- Kathleen Road at 14th Street
- Massachusetts Avenue at East Parker Street
Schwartz said those intersections have a high number of accidents where cars collide at an angle, increasing the risk of death.
The significance of speed
When a vehicle hits a pedestrian, there is a direct correlation between speed and survival.
Schwartz said one of the Vision Zero Committee’s goals for 2026 is to conduct a city-wide speed limit study, focusing on residential neighborhoods. But in the meantime, she said there are areas where Lakeland knows the speed limit is too high, particularly parts of the city that have seen a lot of development.
Lighting: For a long time, the city focused its investments on building sidewalks and trails along roadways. “But we weren’t really solving the issues with people wanting to get from one side of the street to the other,” City Planning and Transportation Manager Chuck Barmby said.
“So we’re starting to see more crosswalks. And because of the incidents of nighttime crashes, the city and the state are really focused on lighting at those locations,” he added.
See the discussion below.
LkldNow’s Insight Polk independent reporting initiative is made possible by the Community Indicators Project with funding by GiveWell Community Foundation & United Way of Central Florida. All editorial decisions are made by LkldNow.
Cindy Glover is a reporter for LkldNow, a nonprofit newsroom providing independent local news for Lakeland. Read at LkldNow.com.
