From San Diego to Del Norte County, communities throughout California received good news on Friday when the Governor’s office announced 288 grants totaling nearly $300 million designed to make roads and streets more safe.
“We’re making roads safer up and down the state with significant investments. I’m proud of the lifesaving work Caltrans has done to protect drivers, pedestrians, and bikers as they go about their daily commutes,” said Governor Gavin Newsom in a statement.
Most of the grants are for smaller roadway improvements such as improved lighting, new crosswalks and stop signs, or using reflective paint on existing roadway markings. While these changes are surely welcome, there are also some projects that will be more transformative. For example, the grants include:
- Protected bike lanes in Coachella (Riverside County), Costa Mesa (Orange County), Encinitas (San Diego County), Haywood (Alameda County), Unincorporated Santa Barbara County, and Walnut Creek (Contra Costa County) and on the campus of the University of Santa Cruz.
- A new traffic circle in National City (San Diego County)
- 22 new traffic signals spread throughout Calabasas (Los Angeles County)
The full list of projects funded in California can be found here.
Funding for these grants comes from the federal Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) and the United States Federal Highway Administration. This year’s program doled out over $3 billion nationwide and is expected to do so again at least next year. However, individual states are responsible for administering the program and approving the grants.
Caltrans staff evaluates projects using the “Safe Systems approach” when awarding HSIP grants. “Safe Systems” recognizes that not all road users are equally vulnerable (i.e. a parent pushing a baby stroller is inherently more at-risk of serious injury than the driver of a Cybertruck) and that projects that increase safety should be at the front of the line for funding.
Caltrans adopted this policy in 2022. However, since then the state has struggled to live up to the highest ideals of “Safe Systems” allocating billions of dollars for highway capacity projects while underfunding the state’s popular Active Transportation Program.
Thus, it is critical for road safety projects in California that this federal funding program be allowed to continue in these uncertain times for USDOT.
Thus far, HSIP has not been targeted by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) who seems to be randomly cutting programs at departments throughout the government or Secretary Sean Duffy who has vowed to end what he terms “woke” transportation projects designed to address global warming or accessibility.
Websites hosted by the USDOT and FHWA were deleted following executive orders made by President Donald Trump, but the HSIP site remains active and has even been updated since Trump took office.
