Georgia

Ga. recipient of $36 million grant from Biden-Harris Administration to improve roadways

By WSBTV.com News Staff

Despite COVID-19 shutdown, there was a huge rise in deadly wrecks on Georgia roads over last year According to the National Safety Council the preliminary estimated death rate on U.S. roads in 2020 spiked 24% over 2019 despite the number of miles driven dropping 13%. Georgia experienced an 18% rise in deaths last year. (WSBTV.com News Staff)

By WSBTV.com News Staff

GEORGIA — This week, the Biden-Harris Administration’s U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced a historic $800 million in grant awards for 510 projects through the new Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) Grant Program, including 21 grants for communities in Georgia.

The program, established by President Biden’s infrastructure law, provides $5 billion over five years for regional, local, and Tribal initiatives — from redesigned roads to better sidewalks and crosswalks — to prevent deaths and serious injuries on the nation’s roadways.

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The Department also launched a data visualization tool that shows crash hotspots that can help target needed resources.

This investment comes as traffic fatalities reached a 16-year high in 2021 and data indicates will remain near those levels in 2022, even getting worse for people walking, biking, or rolling as well as incidents involving trucks.

Additionally, reports show the economic impact of traffic crashes cost $340 billion in 2019 alone.

“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,” Secretary Buttigieg said. “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.”

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As part of SS4A, the Department is awarding grants for both planning and implementation projects. Action plan grants assist communities that do not currently have a roadway safety plan in place to reduce roadway fatalities, laying the groundwork for a comprehensive set of actions.

Implementation grants provide funding for communities to implement strategies and projects that will reduce or eliminate transportation-related fatalities and serious injuries.

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Georgia received one award for implementation projects in this first round of the program:

$30 million for Atlanta’s “Central and Pryor Safe Streets Corridors” Project (Atlanta, GA): This award will help the City of Atlanta transform Pryor Street and Central Avenue with new protected bike lanes, pedestrian hybrid beacons, crosswalk lighting, safe speed limits, edge lines, and additional safety improvements. The project also represents a major expansion of Atlanta’s current bike network.

The Department is also awarding 20 action planning grants to help improve roadway safety in Georgia. The applicants receiving awards are:

  • City of Sylvester
  • Carroll County Board of Commissioners
  • City of Carrollton
  • Athens-Clarke County Unified Government
  • Rockdale County
  • Barrow County Board of Commissioners
  • Habersham County Board of Commissioners
  • Consolidated Government of Columbus Georgia
  • Cherokee County Board of Commissioners
  • Gwinnett County
  • Hall County
  • City of Doraville
  • City of Sandy Springs
  • Chatham County
  • Liberty Consolidated Planning Commission (on behalf of the Hinesville Area Metropolitan Planning Organization)
  • Paulding County Board of Commissioners
  • Fayette County
  • City of Roswell
  • City of Decatur
  • Effingham County

The next funding opportunity of $1.1 billion is expected to be released in April.

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