BLUEFIELD, W.Va. – The City of Bluefield has been awarded $25.5 million for its Safe Streets for All initiative.
City Manager Cecil Marson said this money, along with about $6 million from the state, will make safety improvements all around the city, into the North Side and around Bluefield State University.
The massive project will improve walking and biking opportunities and include sidewalks or shoulders to accommodate pedestrians, cyclists, and wheelchair users.
The project will convert four key intersections to roundabouts as well as make safety improvements along Cherry Street to Bluefield State.
Major city corridors will all see upgrades including lighting.
The city has been working on obtaining funding for the Streets for All initiative for about three years and this funding was announced today by U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg as part of $1 billion in grants through President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for the Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) program.
“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,” Buttigieg said. “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.”
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