Sean P. Duffy, the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, has announced a $1 billion boost in funding aimed at making America's roads safer. This significant investment is set to support a wide array of projects, including the enhancement of intersection safety, the construction of roundabouts, sidewalk upgrades, and fortifying emergency response services to ensure that streets become safer for communities nationwide. A total of $982,231,998 will be disbursed through the Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) competitive grant program to 521 projects across 48 states, 18 tribes, and Puerto Rico.
The SS4A grant program has recently been retooled by Secretary Duffy to swiftly remove DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) and environmental justice requirements previously set by the Biden administration. Duffy criticized these policies as "absurd requirements" that were "bogging down the system." He further stated that this move was to directly focus funds on urgent safety projects and to "move these investments at the speed of Trump." According to a statement from the U.S. Department of Transportation, Duffy emphasized that the department's goal is clear and singular: safety.
The SS4A program offers two types of grants: Planning and Demonstration Grants and Implementation Grants. The former supports the development or enhancement of an Action Plan, while the latter is aimed at funding projects that align with an existing Action Plan to address roadway safety challenges. Among the projects set to benefit from the grants are Memphis, Tennessee, which received $5.6 million to build a traffic incident management training facility, Shawnee County, Kansas, receiving $4 million for emergency communications upgrades, and Huntsville, Alabama, being awarded $21.4 million to construct a new pedestrian and bicycle bridge.
Grant recipients were selected through a rigorous process conducted by the Department of Transportation, which saw federal agencies like the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) collaboratively to vet and approve the projects. Through this process, the department aims to efficiently deliver improvements that will reverberate across generations. A complete list of the 521 winners and their corresponding projects is available for public scrutiny on the U.S. Department of Transportation's website.
