Rogers County commissioners vote to pursue federal Safe Streets and Roads grant, form application committee

Rogers County commissioners voted to apply for a federal Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) grant and to form a county committee to prepare the required safety action plan and project proposal.

The item came during the grants portion of the meeting, when a county staff member identified as Carl briefed commissioners on the notice of funding opportunity. Carl said, "It's for Metropolitan Planning Organizations, which is City, Counties, Tribes, Municipalities, Territories. Okay, we qualify. We're a County." He told the board the program supports planning, infrastructure, and behavioral initiatives "to prevent fat fatalities and serious injuries on roads and streets involving all roadway users, pedestrians, bicyclists, public transportation, motorist, and commercial vehicles." Carl said the program is a five-year project that could begin about 12 months after application approval and that the county must submit a safety action plan to be eligible.

The board moved to pursue the grant after discussion about eligible projects and local constraints. Commissioners discussed examples that might qualify, including guardrails, improved signage and striping, modern flashing signs with solar backup and aprons where county roads connect to major collectors. One commissioner asked whether improvements on state highways would qualify; Carl said they would not. "That's like one of the very first ones on their list of what we do not do, and that's add additional lanes," he said, though he added the grant could fund shoulder widening and similar safety work on county-controlled roads.

Carl told the board the state of Oklahoma is allocated up to 15% of a $1 billion national pot and that the county's portion would be a project-driven application with an 80/20 federal/local split. He said applicants must assemble five years of crash and serious-incident data and develop engineering estimates; planning and engineering work can be funded through the grant but would not be advanced prior to award. Carl also noted the application listing number provided in the packet: "listing number 290.939" and later referenced as "20.939" in the discussion materials.

Commissioners directed staff to form a committee of district representatives, the sheriff and 9-1-1 personnel to compile safety data and project scopes. The motion to apply and move forward with forming the committee carried; commissioners indicated Carl would lead the committee and that Commissioner Steve Hendricks would co-chair.

Why it matters: the SS4A program funds projects aimed at reducing road fatalities and serious injuries and can finance planning, engineering and construction work tied to a specific safety action plan. Preparing a compliant application requires compiling crash history and completing a project-driven scope and cost estimate within the grant deadline.

Next steps noted at the meeting: staff will assemble the committee, compile the five-year crash and serious-injury data, develop project scopes and engineering estimates where required, and prepare the application ahead of the stated deadline. The packet and discussion referenced an application deadline in late June (stated in the briefing as June 20), and Carl told commissioners he would distribute a 76-page report and work with the committee to prepare materials for submission.