The City of Arlington has recently secured a substantial federal grant aimed at bolstering the safety of routes leading to and from its public schools. The city's initiatives to create safer streets for schoolchildren and their families have been backed with a $2,472,500 infusion from the U.S. Department of Transportation, as part of President Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. This funding push is part of a larger commitment totaling $63 million in grants earmarked for 99 communities across the country, dedicated to the Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) program.
According to the City of Arlington, Texas, this federal grant will enable the city to formulate a master plan ensuring safe routes to all 97 Arlington public schools. As part of the initiative, known as Safe Streets Arlington, the city has been conducting a broad assessment that evaluates infrastructure such as sidewalks, signalized intersections, and pedestrian crosswalks. With the grants awarded to them, Arlington now looks to address roadway safety improvements around two elementary schools — Speer and Thornton — both of which fall within compact zones that require most students to rely on walking or bicycling to class.
"Bicyclists, pedestrians, and drivers should be safe on our roads and streets, and the Biden-Harris Administration is taking action across the country to make our roads safer for everyone who uses them," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, as per the City of Arlington, Texas. "Thanks to our Safe Streets for All grants, communities across the country are improving their roads so they can be safely shared by bikes, cars, and pedestrians, and this latest round of funding will make it possible for 99 communities to implement roadway safety measures that help save more lives."
The project's slate is set from January 2025 to December 2026, during which the City of Arlington, in developing the comprehensive Safe Routes to School master plan, will also seek community input to guarantee the implementation of strategic improvements benefiting both students and the larger community. The funds from the grant provide for a testing phase around the Speer and Thornton elementary campuses. Here, trials for safety measures, such as the painting of crosswalks, signage upgrades, and temporary traffic calming elements, are to take effect. A previous $385,000 grant allowed Arlington to update its Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Transition Plan by assessing its sidewalks and crafting its first comprehensive Sidewalk Master Plan. An additional $240,000 grant in 2023 facilitated the completion of a city-wide roadway safety action plan with a pivotal objective: the elimination of road fatalities and serious injuries.
