SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- According to a new extensive federal database on pedestrian fatalities, on average one person every 14 days is hit and killed by a car in Sacramento County.

That statistic has advocates demanding changes to make city streets pedestrian friendly.

According to the National Highway Safety Administration, Sacramento County had 181 pedestrian deaths between 1999 and 2003.

Most pedestrian deaths occur on wide, high-speed, heavily traveled roads like Folsom Boulevard.

Anne Geraghty, of Walk Sacramento, said what is needed is a walkable community.

"The good news is there's a lot of interest right now in improving it. The bad news is we've had 50 years of auto-centric development and it will be difficult to turn that around," Geraghty said.

Geraghty's group advocates better sidewalks, more crosswalks, signals with countdowns, and putting wide surface streets on a diet to reduce speeds.

"A roadway diet is where you have a road that, say, is four lanes and you narrow it down to three lanes," Geraghty said.

The pedestrian basics are missing from some Sacramento County roads, but officials said there is a plan to change that, with the top priority being the construction of sidewalks alongside miles of roadway.

"The total needs for the county over the whole unincorporated area is around $400 -- it's fairly substantial," Sacramento County Department of Transportation Senior Engineer Dave Franke said.

It's a long-term goal with uncertain funding.

One reason for the uncertain is that California's gas tax, which was intended for transportation projects, was diverted to deal with the state's budget mess.

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Fatal Accidents In Sacramento County

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For now, at least, local governments must foot the bill for walkable communities, slowing change and leaving drivers and walkers to look out.

The city and county of Sacramento have master plans for pedestrian improvements which are due to be released in the coming weeks.

Some funds are available to make streets more pedestrian-friendly, but it's only a start.

Still, there are signs of improvement. Just last week, Sacramento was honored by a national magazine for its efforts to make the city more walkable.