Governor Kathy Hochul (D) recently highlighted the availability of $90 million in funding to help local governments enhance road safety; part of a comprehensive “Safe System” approach overseen by the New York State Department of Transportation to reduce fatalities on all state roadway systems.
[Above photo by NYSDOT]
“Safe highways save lives and through the adoption of a ‘Safe System’ approach, we are holistically looking at our highway systems to see where our safety investments can make the biggest difference in reducing fatalities,” Gov. Hochul said in a statement.
“This funding … will help local governments design and implement projects that will enhance the safety of their roadways and make it more likely that drivers reach their destination unharmed,” she added.
The governor’s office said that funding for those projects is available through the Federal Highway Administration’s Highway Safety Improvement Program and may be used to support the design and construction of countermeasures intended to reduce roadway/lane departures and lessen the likelihood that departure-related crashes cause death or serious injury.
Such countermeasures include, but are not limited to, enhanced striping, curve warning signs, rumble strips and median barriers. The agency added that, according to federal data, about 40 percent of crash fatalities occur when a vehicle departs from its lane.
The governor’s office noted that this funding complements an additional $90 million that has also been set aside for NYSDOT to make safety enhancements on roads in the state highway system.
A portion of those funds — about $10 million — has also been set aside to support local municipalities in developing Local Road Safety Plans, which identify and analyze problem areas and prioritize potential safety improvements.
NYSDOT added that minimum available funds per local project is $250,000 and additional information about the funding and how local governments can propose projects is available here.
As part of its effort to implement a Safe System Approach toward Zero Deaths, in the summer of 2024, NYSDOT released its Roadway Departure Safety Action Plan.
That plan calls for a comprehensive approach to be undertaken by NYSDOT and its partner agencies to reduce fatalities and serious injuries that result when vehicles inadvertently depart their lanes or the roadway. Under the plan, NYSDOT is focusing on engineering improvements, public education and awareness campaigns, and the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee is coordinating law enforcement activities.
“Highway safety is a shared responsibility,” emphasized NYSDOT Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez. “The funding we are making available for local governments, combined with complementary enhancements to the state highway system, will hopefully have a major impact in reducing fatalities and serious injuries on New York’s highways.”
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