The U.S. Department of Transportation recently issued $800 million to 510 projects across the country through its new “Safe Streets and Roads for All” or SS4A grant program.
[Above photo by USDOT]
The competitive grant program – established by the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act or IIJA, enacted in November 2021 – provides $5 billion over five years for regional, local, and tribal street and road safety initiatives, including everything from redesigning roads to building better sidewalks and crosswalks, to prevent deaths and serious injuries on the nation’s roadways.
USDOT also launched a data visualization tool that shows crash hotspots that can help target needed resources.
The agency noted that this fiscal support comes at an “important junction” as traffic fatalities are only now starting to decline from a 16-year high reached in 2021.
According to a USDOT statement, as part of the SS4A program, the agency is awarding grants for both planning and implementation projects.
That includes 473 “action plan” grants to assist communities that do not currently have a roadway safety plan in place to reduce roadway fatalities, USDOT said; laying the groundwork for a comprehensive set of actions.
An additional 37 implementation grants provide funding for communities to implement strategies and projects that will reduce or eliminate transportation-related fatalities and serious injuries, the agency added.
USDOT noted that the next SS4A funding opportunity of $1.1 billion is expected to be released in April 2023.
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