AAA Platinum Award

The City of Blue Ash recently received its fifth Platinum Award from the AAA Community Traffic Safety Awards Program.

The application was submitted by Traffic Safety Officer Dane Baumgartner, who accepted the award at the annual banquet on December 4. The Platinum Award is the highest possible award from AAA, which takes into consideration traffic safety programs, presentations, roadway improvements, and trends in traffic statistics to show accomplishments in meeting traffic safety goals. This year’s award was based on efforts in the year 2013.

BAPD is the lead agency for the Hamilton County OVI Task Force and participated in 21 OVI checkpoints and conducted 27 OVI saturation patrols in 2013, which demonstrates the department’s enforcement in traffic safety efforts. Additionally, AAA also took into consideration the education programs implemented by BAPD, which include summer camp safety presentations, distracted driver programs, Cub Scout/Girl Scout safety presentations, and demonstrations at Ursuline Academy.

This award is also due to engineering projects executed by the Blue Ash Public Works Department. Amongst the many projects in 2013, the Blue Ash Connectivity plan created more sidewalks in the City, allowing safer travel for pedestrians and cyclists. Two miles of sidewalk were installed in 2013, in addition to 23 new ADA ramps with truncated domes, a detectable warning surface, installed at crosswalk locations. A 10-foot wide mile-long bike path was also installed along Plainfield Road for the safety of cyclists.

Blue Ash works closely with Hamilton County Safe Communities, TriHealth, Children’s Hospital, AAA, Driving Schools, Hamilton County Engineer, Hamilton County Coroner, and local law enforcement to enhance traffic safety for Blue Ash’s residents, business members, and visitors.