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North Kingstown council hears Safe Streets for All plan; approves letter of support to pursue implementation grants
Summary
Bowman Engineering presented a Safe Streets for All safety action plan identifying 14 priority locations in North Kingstown and explaining how the town becomes eligible for USDOT implementation grants; the council voted to authorize a letter of support to be signed by the council president.
Bowman Engineering presented the North Kingstown Safe Streets for All safety action plan and outlined how the town could pursue USDOT implementation grants. Nicole LaFontaine and a Bowman consultant said the multi‑municipal planning grant pooled $5 million in federal funds with $1.25 million in state capital matching to create a $6.25 million program covering 31 of Rhode Island’s municipalities. The consultant said the plan used five years of crash data (2019–2023), produced heat maps of crash clusters, and identified a high‑injury network to guide recommendations.
The plan ranks 14 locations across town for countermeasures such as higher‑visibility crosswalks, ADA curb‑ramp upgrades, improved pedestrian signals and signal visibility, and other targeted fixes. Eric of Bowman Engineering said the document also includes equity analyses (using ACS census‑block data) and policy recommendations for public works, the police department, and the planning department. He said having a formal safety action plan will make North Kingstown eligible for Safe Streets for All implementation grants.
During a council question period, members asked about the certainty of federal funding and whether the nation’s upcoming Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) would mirror last year’s. Eric said the funding had been allocated and he expected a NOFO soon — “within the next three weeks” or by mid‑April — but cautioned that the NOFO’s structure could change. He acknowledged that many recommended locations are on state‑controlled roads and stressed coordination with RIDOT and RIPTA would be necessary.
Councilors also asked whether the plan includes education or behavioral measures in addition to infrastructure. Eric confirmed the delivered plan contains education‑related recommendations and said those efforts would likely be disseminated through existing municipal channels (police, public works and schools) rather than a single information officer.
After the presentation the council voted by voice to authorize the council president to sign a letter of support Bowman asked to include in the final plan and grant applications. The letter approval does not commit the town to any specific capital expense; it makes the town formally eligible to pursue implementation funds should the NOFO align with the plan’s requirements.
