DOT rolls out $172 million in roadway safety grants nationwide

The U.S. Department of Transportation has announced $172 million in funding for the Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) program, established under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. This third and final round of 2024 awards will be distributed as part of the grant initiative central to the National Roadway Safety Strategy (NRSS).

The grants will be allocated to local, regional and tribal communities to support planning and demonstration projects to reduce fatalities and severe injuries on rural and urban roads across the U.S., including some of the nation’s most hazardous roadways. These efforts will also look to enhance walkability and connectivity within communities.

“Improving streetscapes and dangerous stretches of highway can save lives, and the people who rely on our roads and streets every day often already know where improvements are needed — but until now lacked the funding to address them,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said. “With this latest round of grants, funding will flow directly to communities across the country to help put life-saving projects in motion, building on our ongoing work to bring traffic fatalities down to the only number that’s acceptable: zero.”

In January 2022, Buttigieg declared a national roadway safety crisis after roadway fatalities surged to over 43,000 in 2021. In response, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) introduced the NRSS, a comprehensive plan to reduce serious injuries and fatalities on the nation’s roads. Since its launch, road fatalities have been on a steady decline for nine consecutive quarters.

“The fatalities numbers we report are not just statistics. They are our family, friends, coworkers, neighbors and fellow Americans,” Deputy Transportation Secretary Polly Trottenberg said.

Since its inception in 2022, the SS4A program has focused on planning and implementing projects proven to significantly reduce accidents. To date, more than 1,600 communities — nearly half of them in rural areas — have applied for and received SS4A grants. The program contributes to roadway safety efforts benefiting some 75% of the U.S. population.

The projects announced in this round of funding include:

$4.8 million for the Romulus Fire Department in Michigan to test signal preemption systems across Wayne County, enabling emergency vehicles to clear intersections more effectively when responding to 911 calls.

$4.5 million for the Sonoma County Transportation Authority in California to implement demonstration projects aimed at reducing speeds, adding bike lanes and installing temporary curb extensions, with a focus on creating safer routes to schools, parks, youth centers, bike share hubs and transit.

$497,839 for the Apalachee Regional Planning Council in Florida to develop a Comprehensive Safety Action Plan (CSAP) for its nine-county region, marking the first CSAP for Northwest Florida’s Apalachee Region, aimed at reducing roadway fatalities and injuries.

$464,640 for the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma to establish a CSAP to address roadway safety and invest in the needs of this historically underserved community.

$400,000 for Montgomery County, Pa., to create a CSAP for all 75 miles of county-owned roadways, ranging from major arterial roads to rural two-lane routes.

The full list of 2024 SS4A awards, including rounds one and two, is available here.

Photo by Josh Hild