Everyone deserves to get home safely. Tragically, that was not the case for five people who never made it home during one of the deadliest weekends Monterey County has experienced in recent years, over the Thanksgiving holiday. While many of us were gathered with family and friends, five families were grieving the sudden, devastating loss of a loved one.
Those lives lost included a pedestrian crossing a street, another walking along a roadside, a cyclist riding his bike and two motorists killed in separate crashes, one on Thanksgiving Day itself. Each death leaves behind heartbreak, trauma and an irreplaceable absence for families, workplaces, schools and communities.
As a mom and a daughter, I know how fragile and precious these everyday moments are: the carpool ride to school, a bike ride to a farmers market, a walk after work. These tragedies shake our collective sense of safety and underscore an ongoing reality: our transportation system must protect ALL users, in ALL situations. Over the past year alone, 30 people lost their lives and nearly 2,500 were injured in crashes on Monterey County roadways.
As chair of the Transportation Agency for Monterey County, I take this responsibility personally. The Transportation Agency is committed to eliminating traffic fatalities and reducing serious injuries through smart, sustained investments in safety. We are advancing a regional Vision Zero strategy, expanding Safe Routes to School, and prioritizing projects that calm traffic, improve
visibility and create safer crossings for people walking, biking, riding transit and driving.
These efforts are made possible because local taxpayers chose to invest in our transportation system through Measure X. Those dollars are leveraged to secure critical state and federal funding and delivered in partnership with cities, the county and Caltrans. The result is real, on-the-ground safety improvements that save lives and strengthen our communities.
Public safety, however, is a shared responsibility. Infrastructure matters, but so do the choices we make every day. Whether you are behind the wheel, on a bike, or walking, each of us plays a role by slowing down, staying alert and respecting the rules of the road. Together, we can build a culture where getting home safely is the expectation, every time, for everyone.
As I step down as chair of the Transportation Agency in January, I do so with confidence and hope. We are making significant progress on generational investments, like the Highway 101 South of Salinas Corridor Project to Safe Routes to School, Scenic State Route 68, State Route 156 in Castroville, Imjin Road Widening, the SURF! Busway, and the Fort Ord Regional Trail and Greenway, and more.
These projects improve safety on some of our most dangerous roads and plan strategically for increased capacity in response to state mandated growth to serve future generations of Monterey County residents.
The TAMC Annual Report and the Measure X Citizens Oversight Committee Annual Report will arrive in mailboxes this spring, offering a closer look at how local transportation dollars are being invested across our county. I invite you to learn more about these efforts by visiting www.tamcmonterey.org. The safe connections that bind Monterey County together don’t happen by chance; they happen because TAMC is leading intentionally, investing responsibly and never losing sight of what matters most: the safety of everyone who uses our roads and transportation system.
Thank you for the honor and opportunity to lead as TAMC Chair this past year. I will remain fully invested on the TAMC Board and always interested in hearing from the public with ideas about our public transportation system.
Wendy Root Askew is a Monterey County Supervisor and chair of the Transportation Agency for Monterey County Board of Directors.
