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Benton County board agrees to locally match MnDOT HSIP grant to update county road safety plan
Summary
The county board approved joining MnDOT's contracted update to the county road safety plan, committing to a 20% local match (about $27,696) for an estimated $138,481 project cost to update crash analyses and identify safety projects eligible for HSIP funding.
The Benton County Board of Commissioners voted to join a Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) project to update the county road safety plan and to commit the county's 20% local match, officials said Friday.
Public Works staff told the board that the county's current county road safety plan dates to 2010 and used crash data through 2007. Updating the plan would refresh crash analyses, identify candidate safety-project locations and make Benton County more competitive for federal Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) money. MnDOT has aggregated several counties into a single contract and received an HSIP planning grant to update multiple counties' plans, creating economies of scale.
Public Works estimated the total consulting cost for Benton County at $138,480.88, of which MnDOT's HSIP grant would cover roughly 80% ($110,784.70). Benton County's expected share is 20% — about $27,696.18. County staff said they had budgeted consultant fees in next year's consultant line and expected the local contribution to be covered by that budget.
Public Works Director said the update would include data collection from the Minnesota crash-mapping tool, likely take most of a year and would include public engagement such as open houses or online mapping to gather local input. Board members supported the decision, noting potential future access to construction funding: HSIP construction projects can fund a high percentage of construction costs and the planning documents make HSIP applications easier to prepare.
A resolution authorizing the board chair to sign the MnDOT agreement passed on a voice vote with commissioners in favor.
The board's action commits Benton County to the local match and to participating in a MnDOT-led update that staff said could unlock larger federal safety grants to construct improvements identified in the updated plan.
