WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen and U.S. Congressman Glenn Ivey (all D-Md) announced two grants totaling $651,200 to improve local road safety in Prince George’s County. The City of Laurel will receive $451,200, and the City of New Carrollton will receive $200,000, to develop comprehensive safety action plans aimed at preventing serious-injury and fatal roadway crashes.
The federal funding is provided by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) grant program, which helps communities develop and implement safety action plans to better ensure the safety of drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians on roadways. The SS4A program was established and funded at $5 billion over five years by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, legislation the lawmakers worked to pass to support infrastructure initiatives across the country. In fiscal year 2023, the SS4A program delivered over $28 million to safety action plan projects in Maryland.
“Part of our effort to modernize Maryland’s transportation infrastructure includes a commitment to ending traffic deaths and severe injuries due to car crashes,” said Senator Cardin. “This federal investment in developing safety plans for Laurel and New Carrollton will be critical in creating streets across the state that are safer, better connected and built for multimodal transportation. Safer roads are the future of Maryland.”
“Many of our aging local roads were built without adequate safety features, which put pedestrians at risk and resulted in far too many accidents and even tragic deaths. We worked to pass the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to invest in safer, more accessible roads for all who use them. These funds will enable our local partners to better protect pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers – and ensure they arrive alive and on time, wherever they need to go,” said Senator Van Hollen.
“I commend the leadership of Senators Cardin and Van Hollen in making sure our well-established municipalities are able to employ the best road safety practices and using these Department of Transportation’s Safe Streets and Roads for All grants are good steps in the right direction. I am honored to be part of Team Maryland’s efforts to help New Carrollton and Laurel reduce the number of injuries and fatalities on our roads in these great towns,” said Congressman Ivey.
“On behalf of our entire community, I want to thank the Department of Transportation for awarding us the Safe Streets and Roads for All grant. This grant represents a significant step forward in our commitment to improving road safety and enhancing the quality of life for all our residents. With this funding, we will implement critical infrastructure improvements that will make our streets safer for pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers alike,” said Mayor Keith R. Sydnor
“We are grateful for the federal support through the SS4A grant program, which will significantly enhance our efforts to improve road safety in New Carrollton. This funding will allow us to develop and implement comprehensive safety action plans to protect all road users and reduce traffic-related injuries and fatalities in our community,” said Mayor Katrina Dodro.
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