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Traffic and safety program: $45.83M proposed; signals, roundabouts and a crash‑reporting tool highlighted
Summary
VTrans staff described a $45.83 million FY26 traffic and safety appropriation, examples of recent signal modernizations and larger intersection rebuilds (including the Bennington “peanut” roundabout), and a crash-reporting tool used to prioritize work.
VTrans staff told the House Transportation Committee on Jan. 30 that the Traffic and Safety Program’s FY26 appropriation is $45,830,000 and that funding will support preliminary engineering, right-of-way and construction activities.
“Traffic Design Group working primarily within the traffic and safety, program is comprised of 9 team members,” Matt Bogaczek said, summarizing the unit’s responsibility for plans, specifications and estimates that aim to increase safety and mobility. Bogaczek described recent projects including signal modernizations near Hartford High School, a rebuild at US 5 and North Main Street that added bicycle and pedestrian improvements and a bicycle‑actuated crossing signal, and larger intersection reconstructions such as the Bennington “peanut” roundabout and a DDI in Colchester.
The FY26 appropriation will show construction funding for 14 traffic-and-safety projects and will continue design/ROW work on 37 additional projects; the program contains 61 projects in total. Bogaczek said 48 are intersection-type improvements (seven with FY26 construction funding), nine are sign replacement projects (three with FY26 funding) and four are annual marking projects (all showing FY26 funding).
Committee members asked how crash data is used to prioritize work. Bogaczek pointed to a crash-reporting tool on VTrans’s vTransparency website that provides a map and table view of crash locations and types. He said staff use crash history for some safety-focused projects while many signal projects are asset-condition driven and therefore prioritized to replace aging infrastructure. Representative Couch pressed about whether heat maps and crash statistics feed prioritization; Bogaczek said the crash data is used for both safety-specific projects and some asset-replacement projects.
Members discussed the potential to align traffic-safety priorities with regional planning commissions’ mapping and emerging state standards so that intersections in areas targeted for housing or redevelopment can be prioritized for pedestrian and bicycle accommodations.
On cost trends and scope changes, staff said cost increases are mainly driven by scope refinement and current bidding trends; some preliminary-plan estimates date from 2014–2016 and are updated as design, permitting and right-of-way work is refined. Bogaczek said most traffic projects draw multiple bidders, though a few receive a single bid.
