On 3rd try, Norwalk wins $400,000 ‘Safe Streets’ grant

Norwalk was one of just 99 communities across the country to receive a federal ‘Safe Streets and Roads for All’ grant this week, city officials learned last night. 

The city won the $400,000 planning and development grant to create a comprehensive safety action plan for Norwalk’s streets. Jim Travers, director of Transportation, Mobility, and Parking, informed the Ordinance Committee of the Common Council of the grant at its meeting Tuesday evening. 

Common Council member Josh Goldstein called the grant “fantastic news.” 

Fairfield also received a planning grant, of $350,000, while Bridgeport received $2.5 million to implement projects in its Complete Streets program, and develop a safety action plan.

“These planning and demonstration projects help the nation’s cities, counties, metropolitan planning organizations, and Tribal governments better understand the safety challenges in their communities and begin to identify solutions to make our streets, roads, and highways safer for all road users,” according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Transportation. 

“We just got notified that we have been awarded a grant,” Travers told the committee, calling the process “very competitive”. “We’ve not received it in the last two times we tried.” 

Travers’ team is currently working to develop Complete Streets design guidelines and policies for the city that aim to create streets for all users, including people who drive, walk, bike, or take public transit.

Travers said among the next steps after implementing Complete Streets’ policies is working toward Vision Zero, a strategy gaining momentum across the United States. It works to eliminate all traffic fatalities and serious injuries and improve mobility for all roadway users. He said this grant will help with those efforts. 

“We have been awarded a comprehensive safety analysis grant and that will be the backbone that we use for Vision Zero,” he said. “It will look at all of our intersections. We’ll look at all the locations. It will look at mitigation strategies that we will put in place to reduce fatalities on city streets and make our streets more livable. We think that’s the basis for creating community.”