Transportation
US DOT Announces $817M in Road Safety Grants
Potential solutions using federal grants for better road safety could include separated bike lanes such as in New York City.
Photo courtesy of NYC Dept. of Transportation
Citing nearly 43,000 people who died in crashes on American roads and streets last year alone, the U.S. Dept. of Transportation and the White House announced Dec. 13 a total of 385 grants totaling $817 million to address the issue.
For example, a 7.5-mile stretch of Indian School Road in Phoenix has seen 124 crashes, including 39 which were fatal, between 2017 and 2021. Now the city is set to receive a $25-million Safe Streets and Roads for All grant to improve safety in the area.
“With this funding, Phoenix is going to install sidewalks and pedestrian beacons, improved crossings and better lighting to make this road safer than before,” said Mitch Landrieu, senior advisor to the president and White House infrastructure implementation coordinator, in a Zoom press call.
The awards include 337 grants for planning and demonstration projects, and 48 grants for implementation.
“We’re specifically investing in communities to help them build safer infrastructure,” Landrieu said.
The funds are meant to help each recipient identify safety issues and engage communities in finding customized solutions depending on their specific populations, said Paul Teichert, U.S. DOT senior policy analyst. "Separated bike lanes is a pretty common one. Perhaps a pilot demonstration project like plastic bollards or paint ... you can decide whether that makes sense for your community."
The largest single award amount is $29.8 million for the New York City Dept. of Transportation’s Queens Boulevard Great Streets Transformation. The project would add elevated crosswalks, pedestrian malls, enhanced medians, pedestrian refuge islands and elevated protected bicycle lanes.
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DOT also awarded grants to communities including Detroit for improving safety and bus stop accessibility at 56 intersections; Lexington, Ky., for reconstructing roads with added safety upgrades; and Riverside, Calif., for a project to convert the city's Main Street to a single lane in each direction divided by a traffic median with parking, landscaping and pedestrian walkways.
“Everyone wants and needs safe streets,” Riverside Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson said in a statement. “We now have more resources and funding on the way to help create safer streets for our residents.”
The Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada (RTC) will use its $1.5-million grant, its second from the program, to develop a regional Roadway Design Criteria Manual for planners and engineers that will incorporate best practices and lessons learned nationally, as well as local community input. "The goal is to create a community-driven action plan that prioritizes equitable mobility projects that utilize cost effective, impactful strategies to achieve zero traffic deaths annually in the Las Vegas area," says an RTC spokesperson.
This is the third round of Safe Streets and Roads for All grant awards funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Deputy Transportation Secretary Polly Trottenberg says DOT is providing $1.7 billion across the different rounds. The next round will be available for applications early next year, according to DOT.
“It is one of the biggest investments in local roadway safety in American history,” Trottenberg said.
