Public praise and committee backing precede Richland County’s acceptance of Safe Streets federal grant

A public commenter praised Richland County’s pursuit of a Safe Streets and Roads for All federal grant, and the council voted to accept the grant and related contract award following the Transportation Ad Hoc Committee’s recommendation.

During public comment Reagan Freeman thanked council members and transportation staff for the county’s grant work and said the metropolitan area is "the twelfth deadliest place in the nation to be a pedestrian," citing Spartanburg’s later $16 million award as an example of how an action plan can lead to significant federal follow-on funding. Freeman urged the county to keep pushing to reduce pedestrian fatalities.

Transportation committee chair Councilman Livingston introduced item 16(a), the committee recommendation to accept the Safe Streets grant and execute associated contracts. The council approved the recommendation on council roll call.

County staff now are positioned to finalize contract documents and move ahead with program implementation; the meeting record indicates the county intends to proceed per committee recommendation. No formal project budget detail or implementation timeline beyond committee materials was read into the record during the meeting.