Maryland congressional delegation secures federal funding for road safety improvements in Harford County's municipalities
Feb. 7—Maryland's Democratic congressional delegation announced $43 million in funding for road safety programs around the state, including $140,000 that will go to Bel Air, Aberdeen and Havre de Grace.
The federal funding, announced Monday, will come from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act through the U.S. Department of Transportation's Safe Streets for All grant program. It designates Maryland localities to upgrade outdated roadway infrastructure and improve safety, according to a news release from the delegation.
With the grant, municipalities that applied will develop their own comprehensive road safety plans. Bel Air wrote the grant for funding that will be shared with Aberdeen and Havre de Grace, according to Bel Air Town Administrator Edward Hopkins.
In mid-2020, Harford County published a Strategic Highway Safety Plan that did not include Aberdeen, Bel Air or Havre de Grace, according to the Initial Action Plan in the grant application. Those municipalities have their own local governance and police departments.
"While the MDOT State Highway Administration is eager to support our engagement in traffic safety, we have not been able to engage the county in substantive discussions," the grant application states.
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The grant will provide for a study that allow the three municipalities to be eligible to apply for additional funding for road safety projects.
"We are submitting this grant as a coalition of municipalities determined to eliminate traffic-related fatalities and serious injuries in our respective jurisdictions," according to the grant application.
"Our traffic safety concerns are similar and mostly focused on pedestrian-involved crashes, although there are a few high crash intersections and roadway segments that must be addressed as well in each municipality," the grant application states. "In addition, it is our mostly volunteer fire/EMS companies that are called on to respond to crashes on Interstate 95 and U.S. 40, which together carry more than 95,000 cars per day. They need more support to improve response times and avoid secondary crashes. Our land development codes and roadway design standards need to be updated to better reflect our complete streets goals."
The three municipalities together account for approximately 16% of Harford County's population; between 2017 and 2021, however, the number of fatal crashes within or immediately adjacent to the municipalities accounted for approximately 30% of the county's fatalities, the grant application states. More than 80% of the bicycle and pedestrian fatalities and serious injuries also occurred within or adjacent to the three municipalities.
"This new influx of federal grant funding that we worked to deliver through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will ensure communities across our state are able to reverse the dangerous trends in traffic injuries and fatalities through necessary infrastructure upgrades and proven safety countermeasures."
The Safe Streets for All Program is a new competitive grant program authorized through the infrastructure bill, according to the news release. These funds can be used to support state and local government and transit agency planning initiatives, such as comprehensive safety action plans, to prevent death and serious injury to pedestrians, bicyclists, public transportation users, motorists and commercial vehicle operators.
The Safe Streets For All grant program will invest $5 billion in the nation's roadways over the next five years.
