Hochul announces highway safety funding
Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Thursday, March 6 that $90 million is now available to help local governments enhance safety and reduce fatalities on their roads.
According to a news release from Hochul's office, the funding is part of a comprehensive 'Safe System' approach toward zero deaths being deployed by the state Department of Transportation to reduce fatalities on all highway systems across New York.
The funding will support projects intended to prevent vehicles from inadvertently straying from their lanes and to lessen the severity of crashes that result from those instances. In New York state, about 40% of crash fatalities occur when a vehicle departs from its lane. The initiative is part of a multi-year, multi-agency action plan released last year by NYSDOT to reduce such incidents and minimize the injuries and fatalities that result from them.
'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,' Hochul said. 'The funding we are making available today 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.'
Last summer, NYSDOT released the Roadway Departure Safety Action Plan, which calls for comprehensive approach to be undertaken by the department 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, the release stated.
Funding for the 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 or 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 release stated.
A portion of the funds — about $10 million — has been set aside to support local municipalities in developing Local Road Safety Plans, which identify and analyze problem areas and prioritize potential safety improvements.
Minimum available funds per local project is $250,000. Entities eligible to sponsor a project include counties, towns, villages and Native nations and metropolitan planning organizations.
Counties interested in sponsoring a project on behalf of one or more municipalities within their county also are eligible to apply.
For more information, visit https://tinyurl.com/dw472pta.
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