NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) – A grant from the Department of Transportation will pave the way for future road safety in North Charleston’s underserved communities.
The city is being awarded $200,000 from the department’s Safe Streets and Roads grant. The city does not have a current comprehensive safety action plan in place, so this will go toward creating the long-term initiative.
The plan will adopt an approach to improve areas with the highest numbers of injuries. These areas typically fall into place with communities and larger traffic corridors which are often disadvantaged, including Rivers Avenue, Dorchester Road, Ashley Phosphate Road, Montague Avenue and Ladson Road.
The money could be allocated toward several different road projects, including lights and signals, paving, widening, crosswalk and sidewalk placement and pedestrian bridge creation.
“These types of situations exist because, although we’re 50 years old this city, most roadways are owned by the state or the county, not the city themselves,” City Director of Special Projects Adam MacConnell says. “We are pretty reliant on the sate and county to manage our roadway systems.”
The city is hoping to use the money to reduce the number of risks, injuries and fatalities. Pedestrians, bicyclists and rapid transit users are among those most vulnerable to these issues.
The group also would identify and implement demonstration activities in the future that improve the overall road safety of North Charleston streets.
The department created the Safe Streets and Roads for All program to push an overall goal of zero roadway deaths. It provides billions to communities across the country. In total, the law program allows $5 billion in funds allocated between 2022 and 2026.
Half of the funding is designed for underserved communities and provides roadway safety planning for more than 70% of the nation’s population.
Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.