Latest news with #SafeStreetsforAll
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Anderson County creates ‘Safe Streets for All' action plan
ANDERSON COUNTY, S.C. (WSPA) – Anderson County leaders say that they are looking for ways to control roadway fatalities over the next 20 years through a survey. Anderson County was given a 'Safe Streets for All' grant to create an action plan. 'Part of that is getting input from the community as far as how they travel, car, bike, pedestrians,' said Brittany McAbee, Anderson County Transportation planner. Traffic engineers said Anderson County had the highest pedestrian fatalities in South Carolina five years ago. 'It stays about the same every year. Unfortunately, every time I open the news, I see a fatal accident occur or a pedestrian was hit and we definitely want to reduce those to zero,' said McAbee. The goal is to eliminate roadway fatalities by 2045. The comprehensive plan is updated every five years because of the change in population and infrastructure. 'I've been in the business for ten years now. The traffic has increased tremendously,' said Kenneth O'Brien, with O'Brien Driving School instructor. O'Brien said he's had his fair share of issues on the roadway. 'The roads have a lot of potholes. Matter of fact, I blew some tires because they slit the outside of the tire, and then also had front ends aligned a couple times because of potholes you know,' said O'Brien. The survey the county wants residents to take asks where people feel the most unsafe when traveling within the county's roads. The interactive map allows users to identify those areas and make recommendations for what needs to be fixed or added. 'Even though we are experiencing growth in Anderson County, which everyone has their own thoughts to, we still have a duty to make sure everyone is safe on the road, and we are doing our best to reduce those fatalities,' said McAbee. O'Brien said he will take the survey if that means it would make the county safer. 'Just the fact I'd love for our roads to be safer would be much smoother,' said O'Brien. The survey asks for the user's name and email, but that information will not be shown to the public. Leaders encourage residents to take the survey by June 1, since data will be reviewed by consultants the second week of June. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Mount Pleasant unveils new flashing beacons along Mathis Ferry Road
MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCBD) – The Town of Mount Pleasant celebrated Wednesday the inaugural use of a new safety improvement on Mathis Ferry Road. Leaders, staff, and neighbors gathered at the corner of Milldenhall Road and Mathis Ferry Road for to see the area's newest safety feature, Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons (RRFB). It comes as a step forward in the town's safety action plan and Vision Zero, which is an effort to provide connectivity, encourage healthy living, and protect non-roadway users on popular pedestrian crossings. The Point Pleasant neighborhood has been working with staff for over a year to get a RRFB installed on Mathis Ferry Road, as concerns for pedestrians had grown. 'We have a number of children in our neighborhood that use this crosswalk to get to and from school. The traffic is getting faster and faster on Mathis Ferry and it's hard for those drivers to see us trying to cross the street in the morning, especially when it's dark out,' Erin Haselkorn, a resident, said. According to national studies, the beacons are expected to reduce pedestrian crashes by 47% and increase the probability of drivers yielding to 73-93%. Will Haynie, mayor of Mount Pleasant, added that this safety feature was also a neighborhood-friendly option. 'We don't want to cut down all the trees, that's what makes Mathis Ferry beautiful and it's part of our community,' Haynie said. 'So, these rapid flashing rectangular beacons are the answer. You push the button, those little lights start blinking, and you can't miss it. So, while you might not see a person coming out of the shadows or the dark, which has happened. You know see that these flashers are there. We just need people to use them and use them correctly, it will save lives.' The town has reaffirmed $16 million for its federal Safe Streets for All initiative, which will allow for more installations. The beacons aim to make everyone feel safer, but they are especially important near schools. 'This was a high priority area because of the traffic because of the schools and because of our Safe Routes to school program. We are always looking for if there is a traffic improvement that will make a school route safer. We will go there first,' said Haynie. 'It's fantastic, we feel a lot safer with the kids in the morning crossing the street. They press the button – the drivers actually see us now and will stop, which is great,' Haselkorn said. 'Then we're able to safely cross the street and make the morning a lot less stressful and a lot easier in terms of getting to school.' The town also honored Ms. Austin, who was a crossing guard for James B. Edwards Elementary School 19 years ago. She had been struck by a car and was thankful she was able to see these beacons constructed. Officials plan to add more beacons across the town with the federal grant funds. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Yahoo
Gwinnett County friends mourn mother-of-six killed in pedestrian crash on Singleton Road
Friends gathered Tuesday to honor a mother of six killed in a crash while crossing Singleton Road, tying balloons and lighting candles at the site near Thompson Parkway. Gwinnett County police said the collision happened around 8 p.m. Monday and involved multiple vehicles. One of the vehicles hit the woman as she attempted to cross the street. 'When the car hit the other car, one of the cars hit her,' said Tracy Wiley, a witness and longtime friend of the victim. Wiley said he heard the crash and ran outside. By the time he got there, the woman had already died. 'Most of the time, she always going to the crosswalk,' Wiley said. 'So, I guess the time she didn't go to the crosswalk.' Gwinnett County police have not yet identified the victim. Wiley said the victim's teenage daughter was also hurt. TRENDING STORIES: GA couple sentenced for padlocking fridge, allowing son to molest half-sister in exchange for food 'Cartels won't be able to hide you:' Man pleads guilty to trafficking fentanyl in northwest GA Convicted killer mistakenly released in Clayton County coming back to GA after his recapture Singleton Road has long been considered one of Gwinnett's most dangerous corridors for pedestrians. At least seven people have been killed along the stretch since 2018. The road runs through a densely populated, underserved area with few sidewalks and limited marked crossings. Neighbors often walk to stores, bus stops, and work, sometimes with no safe place to cross. 'My best friend got killed on my birthday,' Wiley said. 'They need to put a light right here.' Gwinnett County is working on changes. A recently awarded $1 million federal SMART grant will fund upgrades, including road sensors, flashing beacons, and cameras at high-traffic bus stops. But the technology hasn't yet been installed. 'We're deeply saddened by the tragic incident on Singleton Road,' said Gwinnett County spokesperson Deborah Tuff. 'While police are handling the investigation, I can share that Gwinnett Transportation is installing data collection devices now, and by late summer, new technology will go in that automatically detects pedestrians and activates safety signals and lights. This is part of the federal program, 'Safe Streets for All.''
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Improving bike and pedestrian connectivity top of East Grand Forks' safety action projects
Apr. 8—EAST GRAND FORKS — Safety improvements along the Murray Bridge and Bygland Road were among the top projects identified in the draft Safe Streets for All plan, presented to the East Grand Forks City Council Tuesday night. The Safe Streets for All plan has been led by the Grand Forks-East Grand Forks Metropolitan Planning Organization. The plan, which comes from a $400,000 federal grant the MPO received, seeks to create a safety action plan and identify projects that could be done to improve traffic safety across greater Grand Forks. Once complete, the plan will open additional safe street funding opportunities and potentially other federal and state funding for projects. "We are getting to the end of our implementation, project identification phase and getting ready to get into our draft and final report and documentation adoption process," said Cody Christianson of Bolton and Menk, the consultants for the project. Since March of last year, the MPO has held numerous meetings about the plan and given presentations to many of the local public bodies . As the plan nears its final phases, likely in late summer, the MPO is planning more public meetings for opportunities for people to learn about it. The plan encompasses both Grand Forks and East Grand Forks, with Tuesday's presentation focusing on East Grand Forks. Among the top segments that have been identified for safety improvements include Bygland Road, the Murray Bridge and the U.S. Highway 2 curve on the northeast side of the city. For Bygland Road and the Murray Bridge, that would include improving bike facilities, which could create better pedestrian connections between the north and south sides of the Red Lake River. "I'm interested to see what the (advisory) group comes up with to improve the Murray Bridge," City Council President Brian Larson said. "It'll be very beneficial to connect the south end of the Greenway to the north end." Also identified was the intersection of 12th Avenue Northwest, 17th Street Northwest and River Road as a potential roundabout and the intersection of 14th Street Northeast and Central Avenue. All of the major intersections along Central Avenue north of Highway 2 were identified as potential projects to improve safety. In other news, the council: * Received updates from American Crystal Sugar about how operations have been. According to Ryan Wall, vice president of administration, 2024 had a record crop of sugar beets with higher-than-average sugar content. The company expects to finish its processing campaign on May 20, making it one of the longest ever. * Reviewed a memorandum of understanding for the purchasing model of city fire trucks with surrounding townships. The city and the seven surrounding townships have been partners for fire services since 2009 and this agreement will put in writing previous council direction given earlier this year.
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
State using interest income to pay down $105 million in debt
BOSTON (SHNS) – State finance officials are taking advantage of a new law and a quarter of the interest generated by the state's bulging Stabilization Fund last year to pay off $105 million of the state's debt. Administration and Finance Secretary Matthew Gorzkowicz alerted the House and Senate clerks last Monday that his office 'intends to make an expenditure in the amount of approximately $105,000,000 in funds from the Commonwealth Federal Matching and Debt Reduction Fund (the 'Fund') to retire eligible outstanding Commonwealth General Obligation Bonds, which is within the authorized use of the Fund.' He noted that the expenditure does not require further legislative involvement. As of Jan. 31, Massachusetts had $28.5 billion in general obligation bonds outstanding, according to a new financial report published last week. Almost all of that debt — $28.2 billion or 99.1% — was fixed-rate debt while just $256 million or 0.9% carried a variable rate. A law Gov. Maura Healey signed in September lets her administration leverage up to $750 million in Stabilization Fund interest for grant-matching purposes through November 2026, as well as to pay down state debt. Fiscal year 2024's interest earnings contributed $420.8 million to that new fund, a state financial report confirmed in February. Gorzkowicz said when Healey signed the law that its debt reduction power was 'not something we're looking at now,' but the state is now poised to use it for a second time. The secretary's March 24 letter to the clerks served as the required 30-day notice to the Legislature before an expenditure from the fund, an A&F spokesman said. The administration submitted a similar notice dated Feb. 10 before using $96.5 million from the fund to pay off the MBTA's outstanding legacy debt, a move that Healey announced in January as part of her transportation package. Between the two expenditures, the state will have pulled $201.5 million from the Stabilization Fund interest pool to reduce its debt burden. Meanwhile, A&F spokesman Matthew Murphy said the administration has identified $307.8 million in 'match commitments from the fund,' made in connection to applications seeking more than $2.4 billion in potential federal grant dollars. Some awards have been approved and some remain pending, he said. Gorzkowicz said in February that the Healey administration has 'used those funds for aggressively pursuing federal funds,' and told the Comptroller Advisory Board that the state is 'utilizing that towards a lot of good matching of federal funds.' The new fund has allowed for a $40 million state commitment toward a $400 million federal grant for the Northeast Microelectronics Coalition Hub run by MassTech, an $18.4 million state match commitment to leverage $24.4 million in federal dollars for infrastructure work at the Port of New Bedford, and a $2.5 million match for a $10.2 million federal Safe Streets for All grant through the Department of Transportation, among other projects, Murphy said. The state's recent debt reduction efforts are just some of the moving parts that Gorzkowicz and others monitor as the state attempts to stretch the resources available to it as far as possible while bracing for a potential slowdown in federal government support and warning that Beacon Hill will not be able to fill all the gaps. Reducing the state's overall debt liability will, in turn, free up money for the operating budget, Murphy said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
