AASHTO Journal - FHWA Issues $21M in Tribal Road Safety Grants

The Federal Highway Administration recently issued $21 million in grants that will fund 84 projects for 61 tribes in 13 states – funding targeted to reduce roadway fatalities and serious injuries on Native American and Alaska Native lands.

[Above photo via the FHWA]

That grant funding, provided via FHWA’s Tribal Transportation Program Safety Fund, will be used for a variety of projects, including those designed to reduce roadway departure, a factor involved in 63 percent of fatal crashes in tribal areas, the agency said.

“The grants we’re announcing today will help tribes develop transportation safety plans, install proven safety countermeasures that can reduce crashes in rural areas, and improve and analyze safety data to prevent these kinds of crashes from occurring in the future,” said Sean McMaster, FHWA administrator, in a statement. “We’re pleased to provide these grants that can improve safety and mobility.”

“These grants will help save lives on reservations by ensuring higher safety measures are achieved for tribal nations,” added James Crawford, assistant secretary of tribal government affairs at the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The FHWA said those fiscal year 2025 grant awards include funding for 25 safety plan projects, including funding for four tribes to develop their first transportation safety plan. Other grant awards also include:

Six projects to reduce roadway departure crashes, including one for more than $1.2 million to the Northern Cheyenne Tribe in Montana to install guardrail at 10 locations;
34 roadway infrastructure safety improvement projects, including more than $1.3 million to South Dakota’s Yankton Sioux Tribe for the construction of a multi-use pathway that will connect residential housing to educational facilities as well as health care, tribal headquarters, and essential services; and,
19 data assessment and analysis activities-related projects, including more than $334,000 to the Seneca Nation of Indians in New York for its Crash Data Collection Project that will modernize and standardize the crash data collection process across Seneca Nation departments and provide comprehensive data to enhance transportation planning, support safety initiatives, and inform future transportation projects.