COLUMBIA, S.C. — The town of Batesburg-Leesville is one of three rural communities in South Carolina receiving federal grant money from the Department of Transportation to improve road safety through the Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) program. An additional $3,152,615 was awarded to ten other safety planning and demonstration projects within the state, including $384K to Richland County, $240,000 to the city of Newberry, and $100,000 to the town of Chapin.
Funding was made available as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced the recipients in Washington on Thursday. In total, $1 billion was granted to 354 communities across the United States to improve roadway safety and prevent deaths and serious injuries on America's rural and urban roads.
The announcement comes as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration releases its early estimates of traffic fatalities during the first six months of 2024. The report estimates 18,720 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes, a decrease of about 3.2 percent as compared to 19,330 fatalities projected to have occurred in the first half of 2023. Fatalities declined in both the first and second quarters of 2024.
“Through new funding programs like Safe Streets and Roads for All, the Biden-Harris Administration is helping communities of all sizes make their roadways safer for everyone who uses them,” said Buttigieg. “We should be energized by the fact that together we’ve reduced traffic fatalities for more than two years in a row now – but so much work remains to fully address the crisis on our roads. Today’s roadway safety grants will deliver funding directly to 354 communities and continue the important work we’re doing to reduce traffic fatalities to the only number that’s acceptable: zero.”
According to today's announcement, Batesburg-Leesville's award of $7,991,392 for the Not Our Roads, Definitely Our People: Safe Roads for All in and Around Batesburg-Leesville project to systemically reduce the risk of roadway departure crashes, improve intersection safety, improve pedestrian safety, and reduce speeding. The town is in a rural area outside of Columbia, South Carolina. It faces safety challenges such as speeding, lack of guardrails, slow crash response times, and a lack of safe pedestrian facilities. On at least eight roads that approach the town, the project will add rumble strips in advance of curves to slow traffic, use reflective centerline markings to improve visibility at nighttime and upgrade warning signs.
The two other projects also receiving grants are:
- The City of Goose Creek was awarded $6,000,000 for the St. James Corridor Safe Streets & Crossings Project to address a four-lane roadway that lacks pedestrian infrastructure and poses significant safety risks for all road users. The project includes the development of a 3.28-mile shared-use path parallel to Highway 76 with enhanced crossings to provide a dedicated and safer route for pedestrians, reducing the risk of collisions and enhancing overall pedestrian safety by separating them from vehicular traffic.
- Spartanburg County was awarded $16,000,000 for the Safe Streets for All Spartanburg County: Improvements to Asheville Highway and N. Pine Street Corridors Project to address existing safety problems along Asheville Highway and N. Pine Street, which are priority corridors that serve as gateways into the heart of the community. The project addresses these issues through a comprehensive program of systemic and spot projects that employ Proven Safety Countermeasures and include implementing road diets, spot safety treatments, an educational campaign, signal and timing upgrades, managing access to limit left turns, improvement of sidewalks and crosswalks, extension of bike lanes, and adjusting of on-street parking spaces.
The ten South Carolina safety planning and demonstration projects receiving a total of $3,152,615 include:
- Charleston County 911: $1,292,615
- Cherokee County: $375, 000
- City of Greenville: $2,080,000
- City of Greer: $160,000
- City of Lake City: $176,000
- City of Newberry: $240,000
- City of North Charleston: $200,000
- Easley: $120,000
- Richland County: $384,000
- Town of Chapin: $100,000
- Town of Monks Corner: $240,000
- Town of Summerville: $240,000
