Latest news with #SS4A
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
'We want safety for all users' as finish nears for Greater Grand Forks' streets plan
Jun. 14—GRAND FORKS — The Grand Forks-East Grand Forks Metropolitan Planning Organization will be opening public comment on the final draft of its Safe Streets for All Plan on June 16. The plan has been in the works for more than a year to identify community needs, actionable steps and projects that Grand Forks and East Grand Forks can take to address traffic safety. The Safe Streets For All, or SS4A, plan isn't just one by the MPO, but a plan for which both cities applied and received a $400,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to conduct. "A lot of work has gone into this, everything from lots of conversations from various entities and organizations across the region, but also just a lot of engagement," Blue Weber of Bolton and Menk, one of the consultants helping with the plan, told the East Grand Forks City Council on June 10. "It's been a blast." The public will be able to leave comments on the plan's website: . Once adopted by both cities, the plan will open funding opportunities for safe street improvements, along with potentially making grant and other traffic funding applications stronger. The SS4A program was established by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in 2021, which set aside $5 billion in funds between 2022 and 2026 to reduce roadway deaths across the country. "An important part with the safety action plan with the SS4A funding is to try to bundle some of these projects," Weber told the Grand Forks City Council on June 9. "You never want to just go after one, because this is an awesome, huge pot of money that you really want to try to sell this story of implementing safety within your community." Since starting the plan in May 2024, seven public engagement events have been held to allow residents to comment on their priorities for traffic safety and to learn more about the plan. Those ranged from traditional open houses where people could take in information and ask questions to staff and consultants, to more interactive events, like a walking audit of 17th Avenue South in Grand Forks. Final adoption of the plan is proposed for sometime in July or August after public comment and both city councils have met in a joint meeting to provide their input. Another in-person engagement event is planned for later in June to allow for more comments. The plan is split into eight chapters and follows a format similar to other traffic plans that the MPO has created, like the 2050 Metropolitan Transportation Plan. It includes an overview of demographics, peer community reviews, how it was created, data and implementation strategies. Roads like 32nd Avenue South and Washington Street in Grand Forks and Bygland Road in East Grand Forks received some of the most comments from the public about potential improvements. Additionally, creating better pedestrian and bike connections across Greater Grand Forks was desired. "This is a community plan. This is not just something that MPO filed for themselves. Both the communities of East Grand Forks and Grand Forks really had to partake in this," Weber said in East Grand Forks. "One of the biggest things that came out of all our engagement with the community is we want safety for all users."
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
'We want safety for all users' as finish nears for Greater Grand Forks' streets plan
Jun. 14—GRAND FORKS — The Grand Forks-East Grand Forks Metropolitan Planning Organization will be opening public comment on the final draft of its Safe Streets for All Plan on June 16. The plan has been in the works for more than a year to identify community needs, actionable steps and projects that Grand Forks and East Grand Forks can take to address traffic safety. The Safe Streets For All, or SS4A, plan isn't just one by the MPO, but a plan for which both cities applied and received a $400,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to conduct. "A lot of work has gone into this, everything from lots of conversations from various entities and organizations across the region, but also just a lot of engagement," Blue Weber of Bolton and Menk, one of the consultants helping with the plan, told the East Grand Forks City Council on June 10. "It's been a blast." The public will be able to leave comments on the plan's website: . Once adopted by both cities, the plan will open funding opportunities for safe street improvements, along with potentially making grant and other traffic funding applications stronger. The SS4A program was established by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in 2021, which set aside $5 billion in funds between 2022 and 2026 to reduce roadway deaths across the country. "An important part with the safety action plan with the SS4A funding is to try to bundle some of these projects," Weber told the Grand Forks City Council on June 9. "You never want to just go after one, because this is an awesome, huge pot of money that you really want to try to sell this story of implementing safety within your community." Since starting the plan in May 2024, seven public engagement events have been held to allow residents to comment on their priorities for traffic safety and to learn more about the plan. Those ranged from traditional open houses where people could take in information and ask questions to staff and consultants, to more interactive events, like a walking audit of 17th Avenue South in Grand Forks. Final adoption of the plan is proposed for sometime in July or August after public comment and both city councils have met in a joint meeting to provide their input. Another in-person engagement event is planned for later in June to allow for more comments. The plan is split into eight chapters and follows a format similar to other traffic plans that the MPO has created, like the 2050 Metropolitan Transportation Plan. It includes an overview of demographics, peer community reviews, how it was created, data and implementation strategies. Roads like 32nd Avenue South and Washington Street in Grand Forks and Bygland Road in East Grand Forks received some of the most comments from the public about potential improvements. Additionally, creating better pedestrian and bike connections across Greater Grand Forks was desired. "This is a community plan. This is not just something that MPO filed for themselves. Both the communities of East Grand Forks and Grand Forks really had to partake in this," Weber said in East Grand Forks. "One of the biggest things that came out of all our engagement with the community is we want safety for all users."
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Y-S goal: Eliminate fatalities and serious injuries on roads
'Unacceptably high rates' With a goal to eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injuries on local roads by 2050, the Regional Safety Action Plan (RSAP) was presented to the Yuba County Board of Supervisors at Tuesday's board meeting. Taking six years of data from the California Highway Patrol and local law enforcement, combined with information from a 'robust community engagement process,' officials have partnered with Sutter County, Marysville, Live Oak, Yuba City and Wheatland to develop a comprehensive action plan that 'addresses the unacceptably high rates of motor vehicle fatalities in the region.' 'Yuba County ranked eleventh out of the fifty-eight counties in California in terms of the number of collisions resulting in fatalities or severe injuries. Sutter County was right behind it at number thirteen out of the fifty-eight counties,' said retired Yuba County public works director Dan Peterson, who is acting as facilitator between the six entities for this project. 'The intent is to develop this clear, comprehensive safety plan that allows us to identify safety corridors where we need to address safety issues, and also help guide the selection of the safety countermeasures that we incorporate into our projects.' The project originated with the creation of the U.S. Department of Transportation's 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which established the Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) program. SS4A funds regional, local and tribal initiatives to prevent roadway deaths and serious injuries, with $5 billion in appropriated funds for 2022-2026. According to staff, the total budget for development of the Yuba-Sutter RSAP was $1 million, with $800,000 provided from an SS4A grant. The remaining $200,000 is shared by the participating counties and cities. Continued grant eligibility is a major driving factor behind creating the RSAP. 'This Regional Safety Action Plan positions us so we can continue to go after future grants,' Peterson said. 'For example, Yuba County will be submitting a grant application on June 26 to implement safety countermeasures…based on the findings of this Regional Safety Action Plan.' Safety measures were identified through the aforementioned gathered data from 2018-2023. The data used for the RSAP only includes collisions involving a serious or minor injury and/or fatality, said Adrian Engel, principal of the transportation planning and engineering firm Fehr & Peers. Engel said that in the six-year time frame, the number of injury collisions has remained pretty consistent at just under 1,000 each year across the region. About 150 serious injuries or deaths occur each year from traffic collisions in the region as well. The data revealed that broadside collisions are the primary cause of local serious injury or fatality collisions, with rear-ending also being common, especially on highways going into the cities. Unsafe speeding, improper turning, driving under the influence and pedestrian violations were also found to be frequent factors for traffic collision fatalities or injuries in Yuba County. The data was combined with information collected through community engagement. 'We created a safety task force composed of agency staff and public works, local law enforcement, the school district and local advocates,' Engel said. 'We met a handful of times to discuss the issues and use it as a steering committee for greater community engagement.' They also conducted four public listening sessions in Yuba City, Live Oak and Wheatland, and created a website where people could report locations where they experience roadway troubles. 'We like to get out into the community to understand maybe places they're avoiding that aren't showing up in the data,' Engel said. The team then identified several priority corridors in Yuba County for road safety improvements: North Beale Road/Lindhurst Avenue from Highway 70 ramps to Erle Road Forty Mile Road from Rancho Road to Plumas Arboga Road Grove Avenue from Hammonton-Smartsville Road to Shoreline Drive Hammonton-Smartsville Road from Simpson Lane to Avondale Avenue McGowan Parkway from the railroad tracks to Powerline Road Olivehurst Avenue from the Powerline/Chestnut roundabout to Lindhurst Avenue Plumas Arboga Road from Highway 70 to Forty Mile Road Simpson Lane from East 10th Street to Hammonton-Smartsville Road Highway 65 from the Highway 70 divide to Olive Avenue Highway 70 from Yuba River to Seventh Avenue Countermeasures implemented will be based on each corridor's specific issues and needs. 'The plan will start to address these issues at a high level, as well as identifying some corridors at a more specific level,' Engel said. 'Many of the countermeasures that we're looking at in terms of the toolbox will look at changing signal timing, increasing the all-red phase and adding dilemma zone detection.' Signs, road striping, public education and more are included in the RSAP as well, added Peterson. North Beale Road is set to be the first for improvements. Engel said the other corridors will be addressed as they finalize the plan and secure grant funding. 'The safety planning work for all six agencies is happening concurrently,' Engel said. 'We will have a draft plan for the entire region in the fall.' Staff will present the RSAP to the board again at the next meeting with a recommendation to adopt it. 'We acknowledge that this is going to be a long-term effort, but it's definitely going to be of value when we go through and prioritize projects and actually scope those projects to incorporate safety countermeasures in the future,' Peterson said.
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
County identifies top crash areas in new plan to eliminate fatalities
After researching transportation trends for the past eight months, the Crawford County Planning Office's new initiative puts the county on the fast track for better safety. Its goal is to eliminate all fatalities and serious injuries on county roadways by 2035. Between 2019 and 2023, the county experienced 3,675 crashes on non-interstate roads with 220 incidents resulting in fatal or serious injuries, according to planning office data. The driving force behind the goal came from the county's current comprehensive plan, adopted in 2024, known as Crawford Inspired. To improve public health and quality of life in the area, the plan engaged various stakeholders and community members. Residents reported improved pedestrian, biking and road safety as a necessity. Now, the Safety Action Plan (SAP) provides a comprehensive strategy to enhance safety by identifying systemic safety challenges and 10 high-risk areas in the county. Then, it can establish clear implementation strategies. Crash data from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) revealed that 82 percent of severe crashes in the county occurred on just 16 percent of roadways and interstates, leading to a much more location-focused plan of attack. By identifying the top crash locations — like State Route 18 in Conneaut Lake and State Route 27 in Titusville — the county can develop targeted countermeasures. Data also showed that speeding and alcohol impairment while driving were among the highest factors of severe crashes, and one group — motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles, and horse and buggies — were significantly overrepresented in severe crashes. That data will inform decisions down the road. 'We had a steering committee of 13 individuals including the townships association, boroughs association, CATA [Crawford Area Transportation Authority], folks from PennDOT, Ernst Trail group, the two cities had representation on it and this would allow us to move forward with unlocking some state and federal funding as well as addressing 10 of the most serious/fatal accident locations in Crawford County,' Planning Office Director Zachary Norwood explained to Crawford County commissioners during a work session Wednesday. Norwood told The Meadville Tribune that the plan is catered to adhere to the federal Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) grant program. Established under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, SS4A must appropriate $5 billion from 2022 to 2026 for regional and local initiatives that prevent roadway fatalities and injuries. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation's website, $2 billion of that money remains up for grabs. 'We crafted a plan in alignment with that program to address the concerns and issues we are facing,' Norwood said, noting that there are state programs that they will be eligible for, too. 'We did a plan that will tackle lots of funding streams and give us the tools we need to be successful.' The road to success begins Wednesday as commissioners vote to adopt the plan and its goal. Then, the county will form an SAP coalition, invest in policy reforms and transportation planning, advance engineering projects, launch and support education and enforcement, and build capacity to implement the SAP through staffing and ensure accountability.
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Williamson County commissioners considering federal grant application for $28M road project
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Williamson County's commissioners will discuss authorizing the application of a federal grant application to help fund a $28 million road infrastructure project in Tuesday's county commissioners court meeting. The safe streets and roads for all (SS4A) grant is a federal grant offered through the U.S Department of Transportation dedicated to improving roadway safety and achieving a goal of zero traffic fatalities. The SSFA grant application for Williamson County is a joint effort by the county and cities within it such as Cedar Park, Georgetown, Round Rock and Taylor. About 80% ($20 million) of the proposed project would use the SSFA grant money. The remaining 20% ($8 million) would be funded by Williamson County and cities within the county. Williamson County would be responsible for $1.75 million, and the other cities involved would be responsible for $6.25 million. One of the bigger investments in the project is relocating the southbound entrance ramp on Interstate 35 in Georgetown 3,000 feet south and installing a median barrier between the IH 35 mainlines and frontage. This part of the project would cost an estimated $6.6 million. Many of the other road infrastructure improvements in the proposed plan include installing signal backplates and rapid flashing beacons (RRFBs). Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
