Grant to target deaths, injuries on roadways

A $700,000 federal grant awarded to central Arkansas will be used to create a plan for reducing roadway deaths and serious injuries.

Metroplan, the regional planning organization for Faulkner, Lonoke, Pulaski and Saline counties, announced the grant Thursday. The funding is a part of $800 million in grants awarded to 510 projects by the federal Safe Streets and Roads program.

Regional planning organizations in Northwest Arkansas and Fort Smith were also awarded funding to create similar plans.

Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) is a U.S. Department of Transportation program authorized in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. SS4A supports regional, local and Tribal initiatives to prevent roadway deaths and serious injuries, a Metroplan press release said.

“The Regional Safety Action plan will address unique urban safety issues within Central Arkansas,” Casey Covington, Metroplan’s interim director, said in a release. “The plan will focus on multi-modal transportation that includes transit, bicycle, and pedestrian infrastructure in addition to critical roadway locations.”

Central Arkansas’ plan will study crash hot spots throughout the four-county region covering Faulkner, Lonoke, Pulaski and Saline counties and recommend countermeasures to prevent fatalities and serious injuries, the release said.

The nation saw a 10% increase in deaths from wrecks in 2021, with 43,000 people dying. It was the highest spike in deaths since the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration started tracking deaths in 1975.

Arkansas saw about a 5% increase in 2021, with a total of 619 deaths.

Arkansas State Police officials echoed national officials when saying the increase in reckless driving seemed to start rising during the pandemic as less people were on the roads. The trend continued as many people returned to the workplace.

Hans Haustein, Metroplan GIS analyst and planner performance measure coordinator, said the group is already collecting letters of interest from consulting groups.

An example of fixing a hot spot area could include slowing speeds, straightening a road, better signage or lighting in pedestrian areas, he said.

The Department of Transportation will vet suggestions that can be used once the problem is identified, Haustein said.

It could take one to two years before the plan is completed, he said. The next step would be to apply for implementation grants.