CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Today, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced a historic $800 million in grant awards for 510 projects through the new Safe Streets and Roads for All, or SS4A, Grant Program, including a $480,000 action plan grant for Teton County.
The competitive grant program, established by President Biden’s historic infrastructure law, provides $5 billion over five years for regional, local and Tribal initiatives — from redesigned roads to better sidewalks and crosswalks — to prevent deaths and serious injuries on the nation’s roadways.
The department also launched a data visualization tool that shows crash hotspots that can help target needed resources.
The SS4A awards fund improved safety planning for over half the nation’s population, and will change how roadway safety is addressed in communities through local and regional efforts that are comprehensive and data-driven.
This investment comes at an important junction as traffic fatalities reached a 16-year high in 2021 and preliminary data indicates totals will remain near those levels in 2022, if not getting worse for people walking, biking, or rolling as well as for incidents involving trucks.
In addition, traffic crashes are costly to American society. A new report shows the economic impact of traffic crashes was $340 billion in 2019 alone.
“Every year, crashes cost tens of thousands of American lives and hundreds of billions of dollars to our economy; we face a national emergency on our roadways, and it demands urgent action,” Buttigieg said. “We are proud that these grants will directly support hundreds of communities as they prepare steps that are proven to make roadways safer and save lives.”
The grants support the department’s vision of zero roadway deaths and its National Roadway Safety Strategy, a comprehensive approach launched in January 2022 to make the nation’s roadways safer for everyone, including drivers, cyclists, pedestrians and emergency and construction workers by stressing responsible driving, safer roadway designs, appropriate speed-limit setting and improved post-crash care, among other strategies.
As part of SS4A, the department is awarding grants for both planning and implementation projects.
Action plan grants assist communities that do not currently have a roadway safety plan in place to reduce roadway fatalities, laying the groundwork for a comprehensive set of actions.
Implementation grants provide funding for communities to implement strategies and projects that will reduce or eliminate transportation-related fatalities and serious injuries.
The full list of awards can be viewed here.
The next funding opportunity of $1.1 billion is expected to be released in April this year.
In addition to SS4A grants, on Feb. 2 the Federal Highway Administration will award a total of $21 million to 70 Tribes to improve road safety on Tribal lands, addressing issues such as roadway departures and the need for better pedestrian crossings.
For more information about SS4A, including additional resources and information for interested applicants and stakeholders, click here.
To read more about the Department’s National Roadway Safety Strategy, including the Safe Systems Approach, click here.
