The funds will be used to help reduce traffic fatalities.
Washington DC (KM) Some federal money to help improve road safety and reduce traffic fatalities is coming to Maryland. The state is receiving $28,505,333 from the US Department of Transportation’s Safe Streets and Roads for All grants.
Out of that amount, $1,050,000 is coming to Frederick County to plan road improvements to eliminate traffic fatalities and improve bicycle access. The City of Brunswick is receiving $240,000 to develop a Comprehensive Safety Action Plan.
Representative David Trone (D-Md) says this program was established by the Infrastructure Act passed by Congress which provides assistance to local governments in reducing traffic fatalities on the roads, whether they involve drivers, bicyclists or pedestrians. “There’s $5-billion going out across the country. And the effort is to make our roads safer,” he says.
He says traffic fatalities have increased in Maryland recently. “600 lives are lost just in Maryland alone. That’s the most we’ve had in 20 years,” says Trone. He notes that other states have seen reductions in traffic fatalities.
He says some ways to reduce traffic deaths can involve the design of the roads, and how signs are viewed, and where they’re placed. “People see a sign and it’s not clear. They don’t know which way to go. They hesitate. Then a fatality, an accident happens,” says Representative Trone.
When a local government applies for these grants, Trone says they need to offer plans on how they will reduce traffic deaths. “They’ve got what they’ve put together called a vision-zero plan. And the vision is zero fatalities. That’s the vision,”: he says. “So they’ve got to go through and really do a good job on their grant request.”
“For Frederick County to get $1-million. and the whole of Baltimore City itself only got $9-million, that’s a pretty big win for Frederick,” Trone continues. “They’re really stepping up, and they’ve put together and they’ve made application, and were rewarded for it.”
By Kevin McManus