This week, the USDOT announced $800 million in grant awards for 510 local road safety projects through the new Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) Grant Program, a record amount of funding to improve roads and address traffic fatalities.
This is the first of likely five rounds of funding to release the full $5 billion going to local and regional governments for making their roads, sidewalks, and intersections safer. The next round of awards will be open in April. The League’s federal partner, the National League of Cities (NLC), has two Local Infrastructure Bootcamps for the grants starting now along with a free cohort called the for Safety First Challenge Safer Streets that any city can join if they're committed to working on road safety.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is expected to announce a national "Call to Action" on road safety and NLC has made an early commitment to bring 50 new cities into the Safety First Challenge Safer Streets along with other efforts. The League could use your help promoting both your state's SS4A winners and the Safety First Challenge. Please feel free to utilize some promotional slides, and the sign-up form is simple and open to all.
Here are some ways your municipality can join in:
- Share press articles about your state's SS4A award winners or pitch stories to local reporters about this program.
- Help humanize the local impact of these grants by sharing stories of communities impacted by safety crashes.
- Amplify social media posts showing wins, progress, projects, or challenges with road safety (previous, current, or planned).
- Issue a press release joining the national Safety "Call to Action" and sharing registration for the NLC Safety First Challenge for Safer Streets.
- Share a video on social media joining the "Call to Action."
We encourage you to participate in the national “Call to Action” and share this information with your professionals.