INDOT to award $50 million for local safety projects
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The Indiana Department of Transportation on Monday announced that it has committed $50 million for local municipalities to use toward highway safety improvement projects.
Indiana cities, towns and counties can apply for funds to install various safety measures on local roads, such as warning devices, signs or pavement markings, raised medians, curb extensions, crosswalks and improved rail crossings. Municipalities need to apply between Sept. 3 and Oct. 11.
The financial commitment reflects the department’s efforts toward reducing fatal and serious injury crashes on state roadways by 25% over the next 10 years, INDOT said in a news release.
“This is a goal that we can’t reach on our own,” INDOT Commissioner Mike Smith said. “It’s going to take all of us, at both the state and local levels, working together, to truly enhance roadway safety.”
Indiana traffic fatalities surged 17% from 2019 to 2022, according to data from the National Safety Council, mirroring the national rate.
The $50 million in funding toward local safety efforts is among a handful of safety-focused goals the Transportation Department outlined for the year.
Other measures include identifying improvement plans for problematic corridors and intersections on state roads, deploying cameras in up to four INDOT work zones in a pilot program to issue citations to speeding drivers, and promoting a “Buckle Up Phone Down” campaign to remind drivers to wear a seatbelt and not be looking at their phone while driving.