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Regional ‘Safe Streets’ grant team outlines Vision Zero plan, seeks Muncie input
Summary
Presenters from the East Central Indiana Regional Planning District and Muncie planning staff described a federally funded Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) planning grant, the region’s $500,000 SS4A award, and said a regional transportation safety action plan will be finalized in early 2026 to enable applying for implementation funds.
Muncie City Council heard a presentation Dec. 1 on a federal Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) planning grant and a regionwide Vision Zero approach to reduce roadway deaths and serious injuries.
"Vision Zero is a strategy to eliminate all traffic fatalities and severe injuries," said Matthew Nichols, project manager at East Central Indiana Regional Planning Districts, who described the SS4A program and the safe systems approach the region is using. Nichols said the region won a $500,000 SS4A planning grant in July 2024 and is finishing the planning phase.
Kylene Swackhammer of the planning office said the grant will produce a regional transportation safety action plan intended to position the four-county area to apply for implementation dollars. "We will hopefully be having our finalized plan in early in the first quarter of next year," she said, and staff provided flyers and QR codes to gather public feedback on safety concerns and suggested project locations.
The presenters linked SS4A to the federal National Roadway Safety Strategy and said the effort emphasizes designing systems that reduce the consequences of human error through added protections and redundancies. They asked council members to share local priorities and stakeholders for the steering committee, which includes three to four representatives from each county.
Why it matters: A regional action plan will allow local governments in Delaware, Blackford, Grant and Jay counties to seek federal implementation funds for street-safety projects, including engineering changes, equipment and other investments that can reduce serious injuries and fatalities.
Next steps: Presenters said they will complete outreach and deliver a plan in early 2026, and attendees were invited to complete the survey or contact project staff to submit locations of concern or additional partners.
