Commissioner of Public Services and Utilities Ricardo Morales looks over notes left by city residents at last week's road safety forum.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The city wants to know where people feel unsafe on the roads as it works to develop a safety action plan and traffic-calming program. 

There have been almost 100 crashes in Pittsfield over the last five years that resulted in death or serious injury. 

"The City of Pittsfield, MA, envisions a multi-modal transportation system that promotes a safe, livable, and connected community for all residents and visitors," the SAP vision statement reads. 

"In support of Pittsfield's commitment to the Safe System Approach, the City commits to reducing annual fatal and serious injury crashes to zero on local roads by 2035." 

On Wednesday, the Department of Public Services and Utilities hosted an open house on Pittsfield's upcoming safety action plan. 

On bulletin boards at Hot Plate Brewing Co., community members saw an overview of the project. They were encouraged to mark intersections they find problematic and traffic calming measures they feel could apply. 

"I think my hope is that at the end, we have a defined process that residents can steer," City Engineer Tyler Shedd said. 

"Right now, a lot of it relies on ward counselors, elected people, and they have really short terms, and so projects and priorities can shift a lot, but residents are here for, we hope, life." 

Pittsfield received federal "Safe Streets and Roads for All" funding to develop a Safety Action Plan and Traffic Calming Program that will guide future transportation safety investments.