As part of the Department of Transportation’s Safe Streets and Roads for All Grant Program, three towns are getting a cut of the $20.4 million in federal funding for improving traffic safety: Atlantic City, Cape May, and Vineland.
From the initial round of funding, Cape May and Atlantic City will receive Action Plan Grants totaling $200,000 each, for which the former will use for road improvements. Meanwhile, $20 million was awarded to Vineland to narrow the width of a 2.3-mile section of Chestnut Avenue between Delsea Drive and Main Road, aiming to go from four traffic lanes down to three.
Press of Atlantic City reported:
The program is funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act President Joe Biden signed in 2021, investing $5 billion over five years for plans and projects to redesign American roadways, sidewalks and crosswalks, the department said.
The program uses two sets of grants: Action Plan Grants and Implementation Grants. Action Plan Grants are awarded to communities to help them either develop or build upon strategies to improve roadway infrastructure. Implementation Grants help fund project implementation, the department said.
The program supports the department’s National Roadway Safety Strategy, an endeavor launched in January 2022 to make American streets and highways safer.
“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,” Buttigieg said. “These grants will directly support hundreds of communities as they prepare steps that are proven to make roadways safer and save lives.”
