(Photo from MDOT Annual Report 2022)
- The projects are funded through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
Five local governments in Mississippi have been awarded $44 million in roadway funding under the Safe Streets and Roads for All grant program.
The projects are funded through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), a measure Mississippi U.S. Senator Roger Wicker (R) helped negotiate as a senior member of the Senate Commerce Committee.
In a statement announcing the funding, Senator Wicker said improved roadways lead to improved safety and increased commerce.
“I have continually advocated for these investments in Mississippi’s infrastructure. I am eager for these grants to be implemented across the state,” Wicker said. “These upgrades will provide safer, more convenient travel options for drivers and pedestrians alike.”
The following awards were included in the latest round of $982 million in funding awarded to 521 communities on December 23:
- $7,920,000 for the City of D’Iberville to construct safety improvements on Lamey Bridge Road. The project aims to reduce crashes and enable a safe bicyclist and pedestrian link to a future I-10 crossing.
- $15,653,600 for the City of Ridgeland to reconfigure West Jackson Street between Sunnybrook Road and U.S. Highway 51 with a corridor road diet, safer crossings, and upgraded pedestrian and bicyclist facilities.
- $20,000,000 for Hinds County to reconstruct a 2.75-mile segment of Robinson Road between Interstate 220 and West Capitol Street to reduce fatal and serious injury crashes and improve multimodal safety.
- $200,000 for Bolivar County to conduct baseline data collection, supplemental planning activities, and demonstration activities to inform and update a countywide Comprehensive Safety Action Plan. Deliverables include crash and speed analyses, tactical urbanism pilots, before-and-after evaluation using video analytics and GIS mapping, and an updated Safety Action Plan with performance measures to guide future implementation.
- $248,000 for Tunica County to develop a Comprehensive Safety Action Plan for Tunica County, Mississippi. The Safety Action Plan will include leadership commitment, a planning committee, a 5-year crash analysis, a high-injury network, two rounds of public engagement, and a web-based dashboard and annual scorecard to track targets and progress.
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) was signed into law by former President Joe Biden in 2021. It established the Safe Streets and Roads for All competitive grant program with $5 billion in appropriated funds over 5 years, 2022-2026. The grant program funds regional, local, and Tribal initiatives through grants to prevent roadway fatalities and serious injuries.
Combining the Fiscal Year 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025 awards to date, the grant program has provided $3.9 billion in federal funding to over 2,000 communities in all 50 States and Puerto Rico.
Approximately $1 billion is still available for the next funding round, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
