Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Transportation Safety topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Ferndale joins six neighbors on Southeast Oakland County safety action plan, eyes Safe Streets for All grant
Summary
A consultant presented a multi-jurisdiction Vision Zero–style safety action plan covering seven communities; Ferndale will be lead applicant on a Safe Streets for All implementation planning/implementation grant covering nearly $12 million in projects, with an 80/20 federal/local match.
Consultants from Tool Design presented a draft Southeast Oakland County Safety Action Plan developed over roughly 18 months, describing crash analysis, public outreach and a prioritized project list across seven neighboring communities. The presentation included proposed project types, cost estimates, and an outline of a joint grant application to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) program.
“...we’ve been working on the safety action plan for Southeast Oakland County for about the last 18 months,” consultant Kristin Saunders said, summarizing outreach, crash analysis and project prioritization across the study area.
Tool Design said the planning effort identified a high-injury network concentrated on higher-speed, multi-lane streets and distilled a suite of responses: systemic safety (lower-cost, quick-build treatments), substantial corridor reconstruction, corridor studies for very wide multi-jurisdictional roads and evaluation of recently built projects. The firm noted that about 80% of project costs would be federal with a 20% local match under the grant structure they presented.
Saunders said the draft project list includes roughly 11.9 million dollars identified for implementation funds (the presenter separated implementation and planning funds) and projects were prioritized using crash risk, land-use connections (destinations such as schools and parks) and equity measures. The draft package divides projects by community and by project type and includes corridor studies on long corridors such as Eight Mile Road that span jurisdictions and state ownership (MDOT).
Panelists told council Ferndale has already adopted a Complete Streets ordinance (2010) and that Ferndale is the intended lead applicant for the collaborative SS4A application. Tool Design recommended that Ferndale and partners continue project prioritization and assign responsibilities; systemic corridors could go into design immediately if the application is funded, while substantial reconstruction projects would require longer design timelines.
City staff confirmed Ferndale will need Michigan Department of Transportation and Michigan Department of Natural Resources coordination on projects that cross state jurisdiction and that Act 51 funds could be used to cover local matches for qualifying streets. No formal council action was requested at the meeting; staff said the full plan and application materials will be shared with council after the meeting.
