There is some big money coming to the state in an effort to improve roads and save lives. Officials at the Department of Transportation say 32 million dollars is part of the overall 800 million dollar grant for the so-called Sage Streets and Roads for All program. The money will be used to redesign roads and sidewalks in order to make them safer, preventing fatalities.that can help target needed resources.
“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,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “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 Safe Streets and Roads for All program grants being announced today support the Department’s vision of zero roadway deaths and its National Roadway Safety Strategy: a comprehensive approach launched in January 2022 to make our 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.
Rhode Island received one award for implementation projects in this first round of the program:
Over $27 million for SS4A Implementation Grant to Advance Engineering & Construction of Providence, RI's Urban Trail Network. The City of Providence plans to advance engineering and systemic construction of its Urban Trail Network (UTN) to eliminate fatal and serious crashes for vulnerable road users in the city’s 25 neighborhoods. Project components include a combination of on-road and road-adjacent protected bicycle lanes and shared-use trails, neighborhood greenways on low volume streets, and offroad shared use paths.
Projects in the state that did not make the grade in this round of funding will have another opportunity in April of this year.
(Photo by ANDERSON COELHO/AFP via Getty Images)