Chase County submits Safe Streets for All grant application to target High-Risk corridors

Chase County staff told commissioners on June 30 that the county submitted a Safe Streets for All grant application that was accepted by the federal portal and seeks about $531,500 to develop a safety action plan, conduct studies and run two demonstration projects.

Christy, the county staff member who led the application, said the total cost for the project proposal is $531,500 to be spent over about 36 months. “I got it turned in on Tuesday, and it's been accepted,” she said, describing the two-page narrative constraints for projects under $1 million and noting the stove-piped grant portal was easier to use than some federal systems.

Under the proposal, the county would form a multi-agency task force to guide the safety action plan and pursue two short-term demonstration projects — one in Strong City and one in Cottonwood Falls — that would test treatments such as reflective tape, temporary delineators and painted pavement to slow traffic and improve visibility. The grant, if funded for implementation, would not pay for full road resurfacing but could pay for shoulders, striping and bike facilities in areas identified as high risk.

Christy said the county applied separately to Build Kansas for the required 20% match (about $106,300) and has been awarded $8,750 from the Kansas Infrastructure Hub to cover consultant costs for Brandy Sutherland, who prepared engineering cost estimates and helped craft the narrative. The county reported letters of support from Kansas Department of Transportation, BNSF, the mayors of Elmdale, Cottonwood Falls and Strong City, and a local school district.

Christy said Chase County had a comparatively high per-capita fatality rate — 12 fatalities between 2018 and 2022 — which helped motivate applying for the grant; the county was described in meeting remarks as having the second-highest per-capita fatality rate in Kansas during that period. The staff said the county should hear about awards by September if the program follows its planned timeline.

In addition to SS4A, Christy said she is tracking other funding opportunities, including hazardous-waste grants, an ambulance request and community block grant opportunities for potential projects such as a swim house-to-community-center conversion. She said that, to date, the county has applied for $1,149,444 in grant funding and been awarded $33,750, and that some previously announced federal engineering support through a rural-and-tribal pilot program appears to have been rescinded by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Commissioners did not take a formal vote on the grant application itself at the meeting; staff said they will inform the board if the county receives an award and will return with implementation steps and any recommended local match requirements.