Latest news with #SafeStreet
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Yahoo
PROGRESS 2025: Work on Bluefield's over $25 million transportation project starting soon
bluefield — City officials are moving forward on a $25 million plan for making Bluefield's streets easier for pedestrians, bicycle riders and drivers to navigate. On Sept. 4, 2024, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced that the city of Bluefield had been awarded a $25,748,152 grant to make transportation easier for pedestrians, bicycle riders, wheelchair users and others relying on local roads and sidewalks. The grant was among $1 billion in grants awarded through the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for the Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) program. The project's goal is to convert four of Bluefield's key intersections to roundabouts, create pedestrian and bicycle accommodations through a strategic mountain gap, and make safety improvements that include implementing traffic-calming strategies and installing sidewalks, crosswalks, rectangular rapid-flashing beacons, and street lighting on selected corridors. The Making Residents, Students, and Visitors Safer in the Education and Recreation District program is designed to make safety improvements to a key gateway into historic Black communities and the entrance to Bluefield State University. Locations for Safe Street projects range from College Avenue, Stadium Drive, Cumberland Road, Princeton Avenue and other roads in the city along with the intersection connecting Cherry Street, Maryland Avenue and Stadium Drive. Steps in taking the Safe Street project forward are underway, said City Manager Cecil Marson. One step is necessary because the state has a new administration under Gov. Patrick Morrisey and a new Secretary of Transportation, Stephen Todd Rumbaugh, who is also commissioner of the West Virginias Department of Highways. Bluefield city officials recently met with Rumbaugh while work continues on the memorandum of understanding between the city and the state Department of Highways, he said. Selecting an engineer to oversee the project will be the next step. 'So everything's online and we're moving like crazy to get it started,' Marson said. The extensive project could take three to four years to complete. 'It's all (Route) 52, all of Stadium Drive, all of College Avenue,' Marson said. 'It's a big undertaking, but we're excited to get it rolling.' Marson said the project aims to improve transportation across the city. 'It's all safety and mobility in the city, so it's going to be things like bike lanes, it's going to be redoing the sidewalks,' he said. 'It will also entail some of the infrastructure underneath to make sure the storm lines and the sewer lines and all that are where they need to be and, of course, it will be street lighting and some landscaping and crosswalks. It's really to give folks good mobility and a facelift for the city and an improvement to the infrastructure.' In October 2024, U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito, a leader on the Senate Appropriations Committee, visited Bluefield and spoke with local leaders about the project. Capito visited the Bluefield Economic Development Office during that earlier meeting to hear about the city's plans for the grant. Marson told the senator how the city started working two years ago to obtain the Safe Street for All grant. Thanks to this grant, three of the city's major arteries are 'going to get fixed,' he said. One roadway, Cherry Street, goes from Bluefield State University to its dorm and classroom facility at the former Bluefield Regional Medical Center. There are times when students use this street, which Marson described as dangerous and treacherous, as a walkway to and from the two campuses. 'That whole road is going to get widened with sidewalks, bike lanes and lighting, Americans with Disabilities Act access, so that's going to completely free up all those kids to move back and forth. When that was a hospital that wasn't necessary, but now that's completely changed,' Marson said in the earlier meeting. Capito was also told about plans for the Midway Overpass Grant that the city received just before Christmas in 2023. The $13,480,000 award for the city came through the Rural Surface Transportation Grant Program. Capito later said that she appreciated the briefing, but added, 'you've to to pat yourselves on the back, too.' 'A lot of these are competitive grants and if you're not writing and showing the need and fleshing out the projects as good as you do, you're not going to get the money,' Capito said. The city had done the work necessary for a major grant application. There are times when applicants have big plans, but they do not have backup plans such as pre-engineering studies, traffic studies, population studies or economic studies, so they cannot justify a grant, Capito said. 'As I was worked to craft the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, I saw a generational opportunity to improve West Virginia's surface transportation infrastructure. U.S. Route 52 is a crucial thoroughfare for Bluefield and these improvements will increase road safety and continue expanding economic opportunities in and around the city. I was proud to advocate for this project and I'm thrilled to see work underway,' Capito said then. Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@
Chicago Tribune
05-03-2025
- Automotive
- Chicago Tribune
Gary council hears update on city's Safety Action Plan
At the Gary Common Council's Tuesday meeting, City Engineer William Allen helped give an update on Gary's Safety Action Plan. 'This is a very important presentation for a very important project or goal for the city, which is to improve safety,' Allen said. The city has developed its Safety Action Plan with help from Jake Vissers, senior transportation planner with TYLin, a global engineering and advisory firm that plans and designs infrastructure solutions, according to its website. The plan was created through the Safe Street and Roads for All program, Allen said Tuesday night. The grant program was created through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and will appropriate $5 billion to American communities from 2022 to 2026, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation's website. Gary could receive $10 million throughout the next two years to improve safety, Allen said. According to the Safety Action Plan website, the plan started to be developed in summer 2024 and will be completed this spring. Vissers also spoke at Tuesday's council meeting and gave an overview of the plan. TYLin has worked with the city's redevelopment commission and Board of Public Works for nine months on the project. 'The project we're doing, the Safety Action Plan, is kind of the first step in this entire program,' Vissers said. 'In order to be eligible for any street way improvements, bike way improvements, general safety improvements, you need to have a Safety Action Plan finalized.' The city's largest road safety-related issues include reckless driving, high speeds, dangerous crash types and pedestrian and bike crashes, according to data presented by Vissers. Through the Safety Action Plan, the city and TYLin looked at traffic safety data and found that from 2018 to 2022, Gary had nearly 2,800 average annual crashes, with about 15 deaths annually. In that time, the city had 12 pedestrian and 2 cyclist deaths. Pedestrian and cyclist injuries and deaths were seen more in the downtown and Broadway corridors, Vissers said. Nearly half of severe pedestrian crashes are hit and runs. 'Over those five years, despite making up a little over 2% of all crashes in the city, (pedestrians and cyclists) accounted for more than 7% of the serious injuries and fatalities,' he added. Severe crashes were typically due to failure to yield, failure to reduce speed, improper or unsafe lane usage, disobeying traffic signs and signals, and roadway departure, according to Vissers' presentation. The city aims to strengthen and modernize traffic enforcement and accountability programs. Vissers also recommends Gary implements a comprehensive traffic calming and speed management program, and that the city also works to make streets friendlier for walking, biking and taking transit. Vissers recommends safety intervention and infrastructure investments along Gary's major roads, including Broadway, Ridge Road and Grant Street. One recommendation included resizing the road near 25th Avenue and Grant Street to allow for bus lanes and left turn lanes. Vissers also recommends wider sidewalks and a shorter pedestrian crossing at the intersection. 'This intersection really could fit into anything shown on the high injury network,' Vissers said. 'This is the gist of the type of projects we're developing in our concepts.' Councilman Dwight Williams, D-6th, expressed concerns with Gary's bus lanes and people racing buses to drive in the lanes. He also wants the city to make turn and bus lanes 'To me, the citizens of Gary are treating the streets as a race track,' Williams said. 'I know we're doing our best, we're labeling the streets and turn lanes. But, if you're not paying attention or if you're not a focused driver, you're going to cause an accident.' Councilwoman Marian Ivey, D-4th, asked how reducing road lanes would reduce accidents. Allen said that if the road width is smaller, people will be less likely to speed through the intersection. Council acting President Lori Latham, D-1st, asked Allen for better stop signs throughout the city. 'I've looked into the stop signs that blink red,' Latham said. 'I get complaints about a number of stop signs in the first district.' Latham also asked how Gary's fatality and accident data compare to state or national numbers. Vissers said he can give specific numbers later in the project but that Gary's numbers are close to data from Indiana and Chicago. Latham also asked how community members can contribute to the Safety Action Plan, and Vissers said they can give feedback online. In July 2024, the city of Gary requested resident feedback in a street safety survey, according to the city's website. Resident feedback was used to help create the Safety Action Plan, Vissers said. The city and TYLin will work to apply for implementation grants next and will have an update on the process later.
Yahoo
01-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bluefield's $25 million transportation upgrade moving forward
bluefield – Working on a memorandum of understanding with West Virginia's new administration and seeking out an engineering firm are the next steps in an over $25 million plan for making Bluefield's streets easier for pedestrians, cyclers and motorists to navigate. On Sept. 4, 2024, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced that the city of Bluefield had been awarded a $25,748,152 grant to make transportation easier for pedestrians, bicycle riders, wheelchair users and others relying on local roads and sidewalks. The funding came from $1 billion in grants through the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for the Safe Streets and Roads for All program. Locations for Safe Street projects range from College Avenue, Stadium Drive, Cumberland Road, Princeton Avenue and other roads in the city along with the intersection connecting Cherry Street, Maryland Avenue and Stadium Drive. Steps in taking the Safe Street project forward are underway, said City Manager Cecil Marson. One step is necessary because the state has a new administration under Gov. Patrick Morrisey and a new Secretary of Transportation, Stephen Todd Rumbaugh, who is also commissioner of the West Virginias Department of Highways. Last week city officials meet with Rumbaugh while work continues on the memorandum of understanding between the city and the state Department of Highways, he said. Starting the search for an engineering firm to oversee the project will be the next step. 'So everything's online and we're moving like crazy to get it started,' Marson said. The extensive project could take three to four years to complete. 'It's all (Route) 52, all of Stadium Drive, all of College Avenue,' Marson said. 'It's a big undertaking, but we're excited to get it rolling.' The city could start seeking an engineering firm in two to three weeks. Firms bidding on the project will get about two weeks to look at the proposal before undergoing interviews at Bluefield City Hall, Marson said. 'And then once that selection's made we'll be ready to rock and roll and get after it,' Marson said. 'It's all safety and mobility in the city, so it's going to be things like bike lanes, it's going to be redoing the sidewalks,' Marson said. 'It will also entail some of the infrastructure underneath to make sure the storm lines and the sewer lines and all that are where they need to be and, of course, it will be street lighting and some landscaping and crosswalks. It's really to give folks good mobility and a facelift for the city and an improvement to the infrastructure.' The project's goal is to convert four of Bluefield's key intersections to roundabouts, create pedestrian and bicycle accommodations through a strategic mountain gap, and make safety improvements that include implementing traffic-calming strategies and installing sidewalks, crosswalks, rectangular rapid-flashing beacons, and street lighting on selected corridors. The Making Residents, Students, and Visitors Safer in the Education and Recreation District program is designed to make safety improvements to a key gateway into historic Black communities and the entrance to Bluefield State University. Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@
