New Grants Will Help NY Communities Develop Safety Action Plans And Boost Road Safety Features In The Capital Region, Rochester-Finger Lakes, And Across Upstate NY
Senators Say Fed $$$ Through “Safe Streets and Roads for All” Program, Created In The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, To Help Communities Save Lives With Separated Bicycle Lanes, Curb Extensions, And More
Schumer, Gillibrand: Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Is Driving Road Improvements And Paving The Way For Better Safety On Streets Across Upstate NY!
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand today announced $17,951,433 from the Bipartisan Infrastructure & Jobs Law in Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) grants for communities across Upstate New York to improve road safety. Schumer and Gillibrand said this funding will help develop and implement safety action plans for communities across New York, inform improvements along roadways, use “quick-build” strategies to test out safety features, such as separated bicycle lanes or curb extensions at intersections, to help enact new safety features on streets.
“From new improved bike and bus lanes to safer intersections and sidewalks, this over $17.9 million investment from our Bipartisan Infrastructure & Jobs law will help give communities from Rochester to Albany the tools they need to develop plans for safer streets while creating jobs. These federal funds will empower localities to enhance roadway safety, develop comprehensive safety action plans, and implement innovative strategies to protect pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists alike,” said Senator Schumer. “These grants will help improve the safety of our roadways, boost the economy and help save lives by driving forward much needed safety features, stopping accidents before they happen, and laying the foundation for safer streets.”
“Investing in projects that improve roadway safety is vital to preventing future traffic tragedies in our communities,” said Senator Gillibrand. “These grants will allow communities across Upstate New York to develop and implement critical safety plans to address roadway safety issues. I am proud to have worked to pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to secure this funding and I will keep fighting to make our roadways safer for all.”
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which Schumer led to passage as Majority Leader, established the SS4A discretionary program with $5 billion in appropriated funds over 5 years, 2022-2026. The SS4A program funds regional, local, and Tribal initiatives through grants to prevent roadway deaths and serious injuries. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law more than doubled funding for surface transportation programs that improve roadway safety.
A full list of award recipients across Upstate New York can be found below:
| Location | Project Name | Applicant Name | Funding | Project Description |
| Albany, NY | CDTA Red Line BRT Pedestrian and Transit Safety Improvements | Capital District Transportation Authority | $5,294,400 | The Capital District Transportation Authority (CDTA) in Albany, New York, proposes to enhance safety for transit riders, pedestrians, and vulnerable road users at and around five CDTA Red Line bus rapid transit stations. This project addresses safety concerns in the region’s busiest transit corridor and invests in infrastructure to support historically underserved communities. The project will implement safety countermeasures such as road diets, raised medians, signalized midblock crossings, bus bulb-outs, and sidewalk extensions, and consolidate or relocate bus stops for safer boarding. The project will also increase transit efficiency in the corridor through implementing transit signal priority and queue jumpers. The project corridor has a crash rate greater than the New York State average for similar facilities. |
| City of Rochester | City of Rochester Planning and Demonstration Activities | City of Rochester | $3,200,000 | This award will be used by the City of Rochester to conduct supplemental planning activities focused on bicyclist and pedestrian safety, and to develop a snow removal and maintenance plan for sidewalks, bus stops, bike facilities, and trails. The City will additionally conduct demonstration activities to test low-cost bike lane barriers that can be left in place during snow removal season. |
| Town of Colonie | Responder & Patient Safety Improvement Project | Town of Colonie EMS & Regional Emergency Services | $2,400,000 | This award will be used by the Town of Colonie, in partnership with three bordering Emergency Medical Services (EMS) agencies – the Town of Colonie EMS, Town of Guilderland EMS, and the Clifton Park Halfmoon Ambulance service, to pilot a “two-sided” demonstration safety approach focused on the prevention of avoidable crashes and post-crash care when a crash does occur. Demonstration activities include piloting an emergency vehicle transponder system that inform other drivers of their proximity to an emergency vehicle responding to a crash; piloting a platform that interfaces with specialty care registries to give responders critical health information about who was impacted by a crash, enabling field crew to more quickly transfer the impacted to appropriate care; investigate Advanced Vehicle Location and vehicle informatics systems that can provide monitoring/safety reporting while on the road and enroute to emergency calls; and conducting additional stakeholder outreach, best practice research, and data analysis to create a Prehospital Health and Safety Information Exchange and Structured Data Warehouse. |
| Seneca Nation | Broad Street/R.C. Hoag Drive Intersection Improvement Project | Seneca Nation of Indians | $2,000,000 | The Seneca Nation of Indians is awarded funds to address safety concerns at the Broad Street-R.C. Hoag Drive intersection. The Seneca Nation holds title to five distinct, but non-contiguous territories located in Western New York, an area of the state where communities are primarily rural in geographic location and are considerable distances from the services and amenities available in urban locales. The Broad Street-R.C. Hoag Drive Intersection Improvement Project is identified in the Seneca Nation Transportation Safety Plan as a primary hazardous location recommended for Safety Improvement Projects across all Seneca Nation Territories. The area is located at the intersection of a hazardous 4-road intersection, with traffic going to and from the expressway exit, Seneca Allegany Casino, and nearby towns. Pedestrian facilities are inconsistent, with pedestrians needing to walk on a paved shoulder for approximately ¼ mile to access the other side of the intersection. This project, which includes installing a roundabout, streetlights, sidewalks, rectangular rapid-flashing beacons (RRFBs) for pedestrians at all approaches, and signals, will alleviate many of the safety hazards along this section of the Allegany Territory. The intersection is heavily used by the community and provides significant access to several necessary resources like healthcare and employment. |
| Rochester Finger Lakes Region | GTC Regional Safety Program | Genesee Transportation Council | $1,747,686 | This award will be used by the Genesee Transportation Council (GTC), in partnership with GTC member agencies, to develop comprehensive safety action plans for each of the 10 participating member agencies; conduct supplemental planning activities such as regional site investigations, road safety audits, and data collection; and pilot Complete Streets demonstration activities such as temporary curb extensions in the City of Rochester. |
| New York State Thruway | Development of a Comprehensive Safety Action Plan for the New York State Thruway Corridor | New York State Thruway Authority | $1,200,000 | This award will be used by the New York State Thruway Corridor to develop a comprehensive safety action plan. |
| Binghamton Area | BMTS Safe Streets and Roads for All Comprehensive Safety Action Plan | Binghamton Metropolitan Transportation Study | $480,000 | This award will be used by the Binghamton Metropolitan Transportation Study (BMTS) to develop a comprehensive safety action plan, and conduct demonstration activities to inform the development of the action plan using materials such as paint and plastic delineators to experiment with a mini-roundabout to replace an all-way stop controlled intersection. |
| Village of Warwick | Village of Warwick, NY Planning and Demonstration Activities | Village of Warwick, NY | $406,167 | This award will be used by the Village of Warwick, NY to develop a town-wide comprehensive safety plan and pilot a Slow Down Warwick campaign using low-cost, high-impact strategies to improve safety. |
| Town of Ramapo | Town of Ramapo Safe Streets Action Plan | Town of Ramapo | $400,000 | This award will be used by the Town of Ramapo to develop a comprehensive safety action plan; conduct supplemental planning activities such as speed studies, road safety audits, and targeted equity assessments; and pilot demonstration activities such as curb extensions and speed bumps. |
| Village of Spring Valley | Village of Spring Valley Action Plan | Village of Spring Valley | $204,000 | This award will be used by the Village of Spring Valley to develop a comprehensive safety action plan. |
| Cattaraugus County | Cattaraugus County Comprehensive Safety Action Plan | Cattaraugus County | $200,000 | This award will be used by Cattaraugus County to develop a comprehensive safety action plan. |
| Town of Goshen | Assessing Traffic Impact and Potential Increase of Crashes with the Arrival of Legoland to Goshen, NY | Town of Goshen | $191,180 | This award will be used by the Town of Goshen to develop a comprehensive safety action plan and conduct supplemental planning activities such as additional data analysis and research. |
| Village of West Haverstraw | Villages of West Haverstraw and Haverstraw-Route 202 Focused Action Plan | Village of West Haverstraw | $128,000 | This award will be used by the Village of West Haverstraw to develop a comprehensive safety action plan. |
| Village of Airmont | Comprehensive Planning Development Grant for the Village of Airmont, NY | Village of Airmont | $100,000 | This award will be used by the Village of Airmont to develop a comprehensive safety action plan. |