Union County drivers can flag dangerous roads and intersections through a new regional traffic safety survey that opened Monday, Sept. 14, and runs through Sunday, Oct. 25.

The Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization (CRTPO) launched the survey as part of its "Safety Is No Accident" initiative, which aims to reduce serious traffic injuries and fatalities across Iredell, Mecklenburg and Union counties.

Residents can take the survey at SafeStreetsForUs.com. It asks three questions: where people feel unsafe traveling, which intersections or crossings need improvement, and what safety concerns affect daily trips.

"We want to hear directly from our communities about what they are experiencing so we can develop a plan that reflects the real safety needs of the CRTPO planning area," CRTPO Project Implementation Planner Will Snyder said in the Monday, Sept. 14, announcement.

The effort covers all 24 CRTPO member jurisdictions, including communities in Union County. More than 2,900 people have been killed or seriously injured on roads across the three-county region since 2021, according to the project site.

Federal funding behind the study

The study is funded through the U.S. Department of Transportation's Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) grant program, created under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. CRTPO announced in September 2024 that it had received $3.15 million through the program, one of 11 SS4A awards in North Carolina.

SS4A requires communities to complete a safety action plan before they can apply for federal capital funding to build projects. The survey results will feed into CRTPO's first Comprehensive Safety Action Plan (CSAP), which the organization formally launched at an April 15 event at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center.

Waxhaw already has its own local safety action plan. Construction began Aug. 17 on a realignment of the Pine Oak Road and Waxhaw-Marvin Road intersection, identified as a top priority because of its dangerous turning angle and crash history, including a fatal crash. The town has set a Vision Zero goal of eliminating all fatal and severe injury crashes by 2045, as The Charlotte Weekly reported in August.

The regional CSAP would open the door for similar federally backed improvements at high-crash locations across Union County.

How to participate

CRTPO said the study will roll out in multiple phases, with additional opportunities for public input beyond the current survey. No timeline for Phase II has been announced.

Residents can take the Phase I survey at SafeStreetsForUs.com through Sunday, Oct. 25.