LOCALIZE IT: Traffic safety grants flow to local governments
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Hundreds of cities and counties across the U.S. will receive a share of over $800 million in federal grants to improve the safety of streets and intersections, under funding announced Wednesday by U.S. Department of Transportation.
The competitive grants include nearly $590 million to carry out 37 projects making physical safety improvements to roadways in 22 states. An additional nearly $213 million is being distributed in smaller increments for hundreds of traffic safety planning efforts across the country.
The grants are the first under the Safe Streets and Roads for All program, which ultimately will provide $5 billion over five years. The program was part of the federal infrastructure law passed by Congress and signed by President Joe Biden in 2021.
Grants generally are intended to promote safety for multiple roadway users, including motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians.
Here are some tips and resources for localizing the story. Find the AP's initial story about the grant program here.
WHERE WILL THE MONEY GO?
The list of 37 projects receiving multimillion-dollar implementation grants can be found here. The projects are in these states:
California
Florida
Georgia
Iowa
Kentucky
Massachusetts
Maryland
Michigan
Montana
North Carolina
North Dakota
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
Texas
Washington
Wisconsin
The cities of Atlanta and Philadelphia will receive the largest grants of $30 million each.
Atlanta's grant will help fund improvements to Pryor Street and Central Avenue and connect a south side trail to downtown. The project includes roadway reconfigurations, medians, bicycle lanes, crosswalk lighting and flashing beacons.
Philadelphia's grant will fund improvements along North Broad Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue. The project includes raised medians and pedestrian crossings, intersection modifications and traffic signal improvements.
WHAT ABOUT OTHER GRANTS?
A list of local governments receiving planning grants for roadway safety measures can be found here.
The 473 planning grants range from $6,263 for Mekoryuk, Alaska — population around 200 — to more than $6.3 million for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
California leads the way with 43 planning grants totaling more than $25 million, followed by 34 planning grants totaling $19 million in Florida and 25 such grants totaling nearly $17 million in Texas.
DATA ON TRAFFIC SAFETY
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has said the U.S. faces a "national crisis of fatalities and serious injuries on our roadways.”
Nearly 43,000 people are estimated to have died in vehicle traffic crashes in 2021 — an increase of nearly one-third over the past decade, according to data from National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Data for the entirety of 2022 is not yet available, but estimates for the first nine months indicate that fatal traffic crashes appear to have leveled off or declined slightly. Still, they are significantly higher than levels that existed before the coronavirus pandemic.
Among states, estimated traffic fatalities in the first three-quarters of 2022 rose by the largest percentage in Hawaii, Delaware, Nebraska, Washington and Alaska. Traffic fatalities were down by the greatest rate in South Dakota and Rhode Island.
QUESTIONS/REPORTING TIPS
— If your city, county or area got a grant, what does it plan to do with it? Documents from the U.S. Department of Transportation include a short description of the 37 implementation projects, but local officials can most likely provide additional details.
— Planning grants are often the first step toward something else. If your community got a planning grant for roadway safety efforts, is it focused on a particular area or an entire city or county? What ultimately are local officials hoping to do after developing some plans?
— What are the underlying safety problems that prompted local officials to apply for these grants? In some cases, certain roads or intersections may have experienced a high number of traffic crashes. Maybe there have been a few particularly deadly incidents that have occurred. Local officials likely had to present some justification in grant applications that could serve as the basis for additional reporting.
— Did your community miss out on a safe streets grant despite having some pressing needs? There will be more grants in coming years, including a new round of applications that's expected to open in April. Do local officials plan to try again?
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Localize It is an occasional feature produced by The Associated Press for its customers’ use. Questions can be directed to Katie Oyan at koyan@ap.org.