West Warwick to receive final Safe Streets for All safety action plan; adoption would allow grant applications

Eric Weiss, a transportation planner with Bowman, told the West Warwick Town Council on April 22 that the town will soon receive a final roadway safety action plan developed through the federal Safe Streets for All program.

The plan, built from a five-year crash dataset covering Jan. 1, 2019, through Dec. 31, 2023, applies the U.S. Department of Transportation's "safe system" approach and highlights locations, countermeasures and priorities the town could adopt to reduce fatalities and serious injuries. "Safe Streets for All is a grant program out of United States Department of Transportation," Weiss said, describing the federal program behind the plan.

Why it matters: adoption of the safety action plan would make West Warwick eligible to apply for competitive Safe Streets for All implementation grants, which Weiss said typically range from $2.5 million to $25 million; the program requires a 20% local match in this funding round. The plan therefore could unlock larger projects described in the document, from low-cost signal improvements to higher-cost roadway work, if the town pursues funding and wins awards.

Weiss described three…