HARRISBURG--The number of deaths on State Street in Harrisburg makes it the deadliest stretch of road in the nation, according to national traffic safety experts.

Four pedestrians and a bicyclist have died on a .68 mile stretch near the Capitol in the last 20 months.

A national study last year named Interstate 4 in Florida as the deadliest highway in the nation with a death rate per mile of 1.250. The rate in Harrisburg along State Street, however, is 5.147.

"It's extremely rare to find this level of risk concentrated on such a short segment of street," said Matthew Roe, of the National Association of City Transportation Officials.

Roe spoke at a four-hour Vision Zero workshop meeting Thursday at the Harrisburg school district administration building at 1601 State Street along the dangerous corridor. The meeting was the latest in a series hosted by city officials to produce rapid responses to stop the bloodshed.

The level of death as measured through traditional comparison models--per mile or per 100 million vehicle miles traveled-- places the recent carnage in Harrisburg above that of New York City's Queens Boulevard, Roe said, which was known as the "Boulevard of Death" for the high number of pedestrians killed.

In one year in the 1990s, 24 pedestrians died along the seven-mile stretch in New York City for a rate of 24.72 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled. The rate on State Street is 88.64. Compare those figures to the average PennDOT road with a 1.56 rate.

"Something that got hundreds of headlines over the years in New York, you've got a street that's considered more dangerous than that," Roe said. "That's something to think about."

After the speed limit and number of lanes were reduced in New York City through a Vision Zero program, however, no pedestrians have died on that same stretch in two years, Roe said, illustrating that street design can save lives.

Members of Harrisburg's Vision Zero working group on Thursday identified some simple key changes they'd like to see on State Street, including more marked crosswalks, especially at 16th Street, and safe refuge areas for pedestrians in the center turning lane at intersections.

City officials also advocated for removing Juniper Street altogether, which is a small street next to the gas station at 16th that appears to serve no real purpose. It runs directly into the back of a fire station, but the street is too small for the fire trucks.

With the street closed, it would add more parking along State Street and reduce the number of curb-cuts that currently chop up the sidewalk. The multiple points of entry for vehicles over the sidewalk make it nearly impossible for pedestrians to safely use the sidewalk.

City officials also plan to send out city crews to trim tree branches along State Street that are obscuring streetlights, traffic signs, and pedestrian flow on sidewalks. Markings and signs to alert drivers to the school zone and slower 15 mph speed limit also need to be improved.

Deputy Police Chief Deric Moody promised more enforcement along State Street.

City officials want to change the timing of the streetlights for pedestrians to give them a five or seven-second head-start before vehicles enter intersections. That practice has been proven to improve safety and visibility of pedestrians, said City Engineer Wayne Martin.

A bike lane also could be added along the shoulders of State Street, but that would require more infrastructure changes and come later after the simple solutions involving paint and plastic bollards.

Residents would like to see the speed limit eventually reduced to 25 mph, like other city streets, but PennDOT officials said other geometric changes would need to be enacted first or vehicles would continue to travel at the higher speeds.

As it stands, State Street is "dangerous by design," Roe said, "a perfect storm," combining a dense residential neighborhood featuring two schools and a neighborhood store with a five-lane road acting like a highway cutting down the middle.

"The street is only designed to move large number of cars very quickly," said Roe. "But cities across the country are finding that being more balanced and intentional with how you use your space," can reduce serious injuries and deaths.

"The era of victim-blaming is slowly coming to an end," Roe said.

Other cities have instituted changes that allowed them to continue to move the same volume of traffic, but do it more safely by reducing top speeds and road widths.

"Speed kills," one of the slides in Roe's presentation said. "Volume doesn't."

Other slides said: "People aren't the problem," and "Make crossings stand out."

Annual pedestrian fatalities disproportionately impact minorities, Roe said. For white people, the death rate per 100,000 people is .93. But for African-Americans, the rate is 1.74.

In Harrisburg, 40 percent of residents don't have regular access to motor vehicles. Those residents then turn to walking, biking and mass transit.

Residents and representatives from key agencies including PennDOT, Capital Area Transit, the city fire department and more are participating in the city's new Vision Zero program.

A website for the program displays survey results, a speed study, statistics for high-crash intersections and the results of a lighting study, which showed weak and inconsistent streetlighting along State Street.

All of the recent fatalities occurred at dusk or after dark.

City officials originally hoped to be able to replace the current decorative streetlights that don't cast enough light, but determined the cost would be about $80,000. The city doesn't currently have the money for that so instead city officials plan to add a handful of new streetlights to particularly dark areas.

The next Vision Zero meeting will likely occur in August.