MPO adopts Vision Zero Web Laredo safety action plan with $33 million project list, seeks federal implementation funds

The Metropolitan Planning Organization policy committee on April 16 adopted the "Vision 0 Web Laredo" comprehensive safety action plan, a data-driven strategy that identifies roughly $33 million in capital projects and a set of policy, education and enforcement actions intended to reduce fatalities and serious injuries, presenters said.

Jed Brown, chair of the Regional Mobility Authority (RMA), told the committee that the plan was developed in partnership among the RMA, the City of Laredo and the MPO and that the RMA board had already adopted the plan. "We've had over a hundred — I believe it's 90 — meetings over the course of the last year and a half," Brown said, describing broad community and stakeholder engagement that included police, school districts and hundreds of residents.

Jason Rodriguez of LJ Engineering, who presented the technical summary, said the plan used crash data from 2018–2022 to identify high-priority corridors and contributing factors. "We identified that there were a hundred and 19 victims of fatal or serious injury crashes in 2022 alone," Rodriguez said, and noted more than 40,000 crashes of all severities in the five-year dataset. Rodriguez summarized three major contributing factors identified in the analysis: speeding, drug and alcohol impairment, and seat-belt nonuse.

The capital list included about $33,000,000 in recommended projects, Rodriguez said, with roughly $20,000,000 falling on TxDOT right-of-way projects and about $10,000,000 identified as city projects. Examples discussed in the presentation included corridor- and spot-improvement packages; Houston Street improvements were shown in the plan at just under $1 million, and McPherson Road — largely a conversion of left-turn lanes to raised medians and related pavement work — was listed at about $6,300,000. The plan also identifies 15 bus-stop locations in the colonias east of Laredo where about 200 children are picked up for United Independent School District routes; staff said work is already underway with UISD and LISD on designs and site audits that will become appendices to the plan.

Rodriguez and others said the projects are candidates for federal Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) implementation funds, which require a locally adopted safety action plan to be eligible. Several speakers noted the program uses an 80/20 match structure; Rodriguez told the committee "they're matching grants. So this would be, 80 20 match," and panelists discussed options for assembling local matches. A representative who spoke about economically disadvantaged county (EDC) relief said the SS4A implementation funds described in the meeting do not flow through TxDOT and therefore do not automatically qualify for EDC relief — meaning the full 20% local match would be required unless separate arrangements are found.

Committee members discussed project costs, corridor choices (including Zapata Highway and Del Mar link), and the next steps for seeking implementation dollars. Melissa (city staff) and others said federal officials have encouraged applications and that funds are available for implementation if the region can provide local matches. The committee moved and seconded the resolution adopting the plan; the chair announced the motion passed.

Why it matters: Adoption makes the region eligible to apply for federal implementation funding tied to SS4A and formalizes a list of prioritized capital and non-capital actions intended to reduce roadway deaths and serious injuries. The plan couples data analysis with community input and sets project-level cost estimates that local agencies will need to package and match to pursue federal grants.

Next steps: Staff said they will continue design work with school districts and coordinate with TxDOT and city finance staff on matching strategies; the MPO and RMA will pursue grant applications for implementation funding.