Belmont wins $25 million federal Safe Streets award to fund Vision Zero projects

Belmont announced on Jan. 20 that it has been awarded $25 million through the U.S. Department of Transportation's Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) program to fund a mix of infrastructure, programs and data analysis meant to reduce fatal and severe traffic crashes.

Reagan Murphy, the city's senior transportation planner and Vision Zero lead, told the council the award "will allow us to make transformative and deeply necessary safety improvements in critical locations across the community." She said the grant includes $20 million in federal funding and a $5 million local or non-federal match, and that the city is planning a combination of in-kind contributions and cash to satisfy the match requirement.

Murphy said Belmont will use the money across three broad categories: capital projects, programmatic and outreach work, and grant administration. She said the city allocated just under $400,000 to a permanent grant administrator position or a five-year consultant contract for grant management and reporting, roughly $800,000 to programs and pilot efforts, and the balance to capital improvements.

The capital work is organized into four project packages staff described as focused on school routes and community connectivity. Murphy said the full award will fund improvements at roughly 30 intersections, more than 15,000 linear feet of pedestrian and bike facilities, two new traffic signals, seven protected midblock crossings and targeted turn-lane and median work on three corridors. She highlighted projects described as "Safe Routes" packages for Page Primary School, South Point High School and Belmont Middle School, North Belmont Elementary, and a downtown-to-Belmont Abbey connection that includes a rail-trail segment.

Murphy said the city is counting some developer-funded improvements as in-kind match where those elements are eligible under SS4A rules; she warned that only eligible improvements may be used and that the improvements must be completed and expended to count toward the match. She told council that the North Carolina Department of Transportation's traffic safety unit has committed $50,000 toward the match and that staff will continue to explore creative match options.

As part of the implementation strategy, staff proposed purchasing a subscription to Urban SDK, a traffic-analytics platform Murphy described as providing near-real-time aggregate GPS- and cell-based metrics for speeds, volumes, routing and near-miss identification. Belmont Police Chief Falls said the platform will "generate maps, charts, and speed studies and reports quickly for internal planning, grants, or council presentations," and that it will allow the department to prioritize enforcement and free up officer time for other duties.

Murphy told council the city expects to be connected with a Federal Highway Administration representative in the coming weeks and cautioned that a formal grant agreement could take up to 12 months. She said staff will plan FY27 budget items now to prepare for grant administration and project delivery over the five-year term of the award.

Murphy estimated the city may need to plan for up to roughly $2.3 million in cash match over five years under a conservative scenario if some in-kind or partner contributions do not materialize, but she emphasized that the final local cash obligation will depend on which partner contributions are accepted by USDOT and how project costs evolve.

The council did not take a formal vote on the SS4A award itself at the meeting; staff said implementation steps and individual project ordinances and procurements will return to council as required.