Mayor Lori Blong announced a new city initiative to address traffic safety called Safe Passage.
According to Blong, in a September 26 Facebook post, Safe Passage is a collaboration between the city government and the Midland Police Department (MPD), touting it as already having made the streets safer. The initiative will focus on targeted locations and violations, allocate resources for successful completions, and collect data to assess effectiveness and develop future strategies.
A significant part of Safe Passage is "Operation Intersection Intervention," which addresses Midland’s most dangerous intersections such as Midkiff and Wadley and Andrews Highway and Midland Drive, the post said. According to the mayor, since its June inception, the operation has conducted 1,956 traffic stops; issued 1,261 citations; and made 48 arrests.
The post also mentioned that the community gave a positive reaction to the initiative. Blong concluded by inviting Midlanders to participate in National Night Out on October 1.