Lynn - On September 9, 2024, Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll joined US Deputy Secretary of Transportation Polly Trottenberg, Congressman Seth Moulton and Mayor Jared Nicholson of Lynn to celebrate that Massachusetts communities and two entities have won $25 million to improve roadway safety. The awards include $9.5 million for Lynn to implement low-cost street design changes to reduce the risk of crashes.

The awards are part of the U.S.?Department of Transportation’s?(USDOT) Safe Streets?and Roads for All (SS4A) Grant Program, which was established through the federal?Bipartisan Infrastructure Law?and includes approximately $5 billion in appropriated funds to be awarded over the next five years.?Grants were made to 10 municipalities across the state, as well as the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Agency (MBTA) and the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC.) 

“Improving roadway safety for drivers, bikers and pedestrians is critical for improving quality of life across our state. These grants will help our communities do the work that is most needed to keep residents and visitors alike safe on their streets,” said Governor Maura Healey. “I want to thank our partners in the Biden-Harris administration for granting these awards and congratulate the awardees for their hard work to secure these funds.”

“As a former Mayor, I know how critical these federal awards are to supporting our communities and making our residents safer,” said Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll. “We are continuing to compete aggressively to bring more federal dollars home to advance these important initiatives. Thank you to our partners at USDOT for these awards and the continued support of Massachusetts transportation needs.”

“I am pleased to join Massachusetts leaders to celebrate that a dozen awardees including Lynn are receiving $25 million from the Biden-Harris Administration to make their streets safer for everyone,” said U.S. Transportation Deputy Secretary Polly Trottenberg. “We are proud to have found a formula that works for a large Federal program that is helping solve a national safety problem by working at the local level, in partnership with local leaders and community members.”

“Making our streets safer for all users is a key part of our mission to deliver an equitable transportation network for the residents of Massachusetts,” said Transportation Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt. “We are grateful to members of our congressional delegation who helped secure this Safe Streets?and Roads for All funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation, and we look forward to supporting municipalities as they advance safety improvements in their communities.”  

"The Safe Streets for All program has been a key focus of the Federal Funds and Infrastructure Office. We know that SS4A is invaluable to advancing our goals to make roads safer everyone while prioritizing community collaboration and have worked diligently to ensure that Massachusetts communities benefit from this program," said Director of Federal Funds and Infrastructure Quentin Palfrey. "Thank you to the Biden-Harris administration, Secretary Buttigieg and all of our federal partners for these historic investments, and we look forward to seeing their impact across Massachusetts."

“Lynn sits only ten miles from Boston, yet it has historically missed out on the same investments in high-quality transportation and infrastructure afforded to its regional neighbors," said Congressman Seth Moulton (D-MA-06). "I’m thrilled that Lynn, Peabody, and so many other deserving communities across Massachusetts will receive this federal funding -- made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law – to enhance road safety. I'm grateful for the continued partnership of the Governor and Lieutenant Governor, Senators Markey and Warren, leaders in Lynn and Peabody, the state delegation, and USDOT.”

“We are incredibly grateful to receive this funding from our partners in Washington,” said Mayor of Lynn Jared C. Nicholson. “This grant will allow us to perform critical improvements that will benefit all drivers, pedestrians and cyclists who use our roads.”

The SS4A program funding awards can be used to improve roadway safety by supporting communities in developing comprehensive safety action plans, conducting data analyses, and implementing projects and strategies that seek to significantly reduce or eliminate transportation-related fatalities and serious injuries. Additionally, awarded funding can also be used to support stakeholder engagement to ensure that all community members have a voice in developing plans, projects, and strategies. 

The Massachusetts recipients of this round of SS4A funding are the following: 

Lynn: $9,586,487 - to implement low-cost street design changes throughout 17 miles on high-injury routes to address systemic crash risks. 

Abington: $301,804 - to conduct supplemental planning and demonstration activities. The supplemental planning activities will consist of a traffic calming devices and corridor studies. The demonstration activities will consist of traffic calming and crossing treatments.

Boston: $3,520,577 - to update the City's Vision Zero Plan and conduct demonstration projects to pilot ways to improve safety on Meridian Street and Border Street in East Boston, including tightening turning radii at key intersections, creating separated bicycle lanes, adjusting striping, adding colored bus and bicycle lanes, and adjusting signal phasing.

Fitchburg: $423,795 - to develop a comprehensive safety action plan; develop an ADA transition plan; and deploy high-visibility crosswalks, curb extensions with flex posts, pedestrian scale lighting, and ADA curb ramps along priority roads lacking infrastructure for vulnerable road users.  

Haverhill: $743,778 - to implement temporary safety measures and analyze the most effective solution to meet the goal of zero deaths in the community. 

New Bedford: $237,267 - to conduct two demonstration projects in areas with a high prevalence of pedestrian-involved crashes. The projects will inform the local Regional Safety Action Plan. The first project will restrict parking near intersections and utilize temporary materials to implement curb extensions and other crosswalk visibility enhancements. The second project will explore the feasibility of converting wide one-way corridors that encourage high speeds instead to two-way streets.

Peabody: $223,360 -to test safety interventions by altering the geometry of approximately 1.3 miles of Lynnfield Street and of key intersections along the corridor. A pop-up shared-use path will be added, the road will be restriped to narrow motor vehicle lanes, marked crosswalks at key intersections will be installed, and two intersections will be straightened and their corner radii reduced.

MBTA:$2,155,020 - to retrofit 175 MBTA buses with the Mobileye technology, a collision avoidance system that provides real-time alerts and is designed specifically for buses with extended blind spots operating in crowded urban environments. The results of adding the technology, will inform future updates to the MBTA’s comprehensive safety action plan.

MAPC: $7,509,376 - to update their comprehensive safety action plan; conduct a series of walkability and bike-ability audits in shortlisted high-risk locations, along with various activities to engage residents who live near those locations or pass through them frequently; and implement quick-build traffic calming projects.

Quincy: $126,400 - to conduct demonstration activities to inform the local MPO's comprehensive action plan.

Clinton: $356,204 - to develop a comprehensive safety action plan and conduct demonstration activities.

Watertown: $806,192 - to conduct a Safe System Approach Educational Campaign and Citywide Speed Limit Study. Demonstration activities will include the deployment of traffic calming, pedestrian safety, and bicycle safety treatments near a school for the blind and visually impaired.

The Safe Streets and Roads for All award is the latest example of how the Healey-Driscoll administration is aggressively competing for federal funds. At the beginning of the administration, Governor Healey established the Federal Funds and Infrastructure Office (FFIO) to help lead the state's whole-of-government strategy for pursuing federal dollars. Since January of 2023, Massachusetts has successfully brought more than $7 billion from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Inflation Reduction Act, and CHIPS and Science Act to further priorities related to transportation, climate resiliency, job creation, and economic development.

As of Friday, September 6, IMPACT was reporting year to date: a total of 80,630 crashes in Massachusetts, 225 fatalities from those crashes, 1,021 crashes involving pedestrians, and 840 crashes involving bicyclists. The IMPACT portal is a tool to support research, raise awareness about road safety, and support public safety initiatives. An interactive dashboard allows the user to look at data by municipality, by region, by mode of travel, (such as motorcycle), and to also learn about safety analysis tools. 

For data on Massachusetts crashes, visit the MassDOT data crash portal, IMPACT: https://apps.impact.dot.state.ma.us/cdp/home.