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Campbell County to participate in regional Safe Streets study after $280,000 federal grant
Summary
Central Virginia PDC staff told the Campbell County Board of Supervisors the region received a $280,000 SS4A planning grant (with a $70,000 match) to produce a Safety Action Plan identifying high-injury locations and locally tailored recommendations; the PDC plans public engagement and site visits before presenting a draft in spring.
Kelly Hitchcock, deputy director of the Central Virginia Planning District Commission, told the Campbell County Board of Supervisors that the PDC received a $280,000 Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) planning grant with a $70,000 matching contribution and will use the money to produce a Safety Action Plan for the region.
Hitchcock said the federal SS4A program (part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law) funds planning and, for eligible jurisdictions, later construction funds. "We received a $280,000 grant, at a $70,000 CDPEC match," she said, adding that the program follows the national safe-system approach and Virginia’s strategic highway safety plan.
Hitchcock and consultants presented localized crash data showing Campbell County’s high-injury network totals and underlying trends. The PDC analysis identified roughly 43 miles of county roadway representing the "highest incidence" of serious injuries and fatalities; the presentation cited 243 serious injuries and 49 fatal injuries in the county during the analyzed period. Hitchcock said consultants EPR and Kimberly Horne tailored statewide and VDOT data to Campbell County to identify priority locations.
She explained the project’s methodology: overlaying crash types (pedestrian, motorcycle, bicycle, motorist), causes (impaired driving, speeding, roadway departures), and social-vulnerability measures from USDOT’s mapping tools to better understand where engineering, education or enforcement strategies are appropriate. Hitchcock stressed the distinction between crash-location concentration and countywide socioeconomic scores: the figure that "53 percent" represented the share of serious crashes located in census blocks flagged for transportation vulnerability, not that 53 percent of the county met that vulnerability threshold.
The PDC intends public engagement including focus groups, an interactive public survey with an online map for residents to drop pins and describe safety concerns, and site visits by engineering consultants (Kimley‑Horn) with VDOT and local staff. Hitchcock said the project team will draft prioritized engineering and non‑engineering recommendations for each locality and return with a draft plan in March–April and seek approval consideration in May.
Supervisors asked for details on how USDOT’s social‑vulnerability metrics are defined and whether survey responses will be filterable by ZIP code; Hitchcock said she would provide the parameters and confirmed the survey will ask for location (ZIP code) and allow county‑level filtering. The PDC plans to post the interactive crash data and high‑injury network for Campbell County on the project website so residents and staff can examine specific crash points and suggested remedies.
Next steps: the PDC will continue data collection, run public outreach in Campbell County and at regional PDC/TPO meetings, and present a draft Safety Action Plan for the county in spring.
