Carper, Coons, Blunt Rochester Announce Federal Safe Streets and Roads Grant for City of Wilmington

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senators Tom Carper, Chris Coons, and Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester (all D-Del.) today announced the award of a $200,000 grant by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) for the City of Wilmington, Delaware to help improve roadway safety for all users.

Funding came from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s new Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) grant program, which Carper, Coons, and Blunt Rochester helped author and pass into law. The SS4A program provides dedicated funding to support regional, local, and Tribal plans, projects, and strategies to prevent roadway deaths and serious injuries.

“2022 was the most dangerous year on our roads in Delaware since 1988. While roadway safety is a national challenge, addressing this crisis requires engagement from all levels of government,” said Senator Carper. ”As Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, I successfully increased funding for safety programs in the highway title of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. These funds are going to help the City of Wilmington work to make roads safer for everyone, especially pedestrians, cyclists, and other vulnerable users.”

“This funding won’t just make Delawareans safer by providing better roadways in the First State, it will create good-paying jobs in New Castle County and across our state,” said Senator Coons. “This is just one more example of how the generational Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is investing back into American cities and towns across the nation, and I’m so glad to see its benefits coming to Wilmington.”

One of the focuses of the Biden Administration and Congress has been working to ensure we reduce the high number of dangerous accidents we’ve seen on roadways across the country. That’s why, among many other remarkable provisions, the increased funding for safe streets and roads within the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will make a significant and live-saving impact in Delaware and beyond,” said Representative Blunt Rochester. “I’m proud to have worked with Senators Carper and Coons to increase funding safety measures, get the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed through both chambers of Congress and, ultimately, signed by President Biden.”

“This grant will help make Wilmington’s streets safer for everyone,” said Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki. “We intend to put these funds to good use by focusing on pedestrian signage generally and school zones in particular, so that our children will be even better protected on their way to and from their schools. We are grateful to the Biden administration as well as to our congressional delegation – Senators Carper and Coons and Congresswoman Blunt Rochester – who were instrumental in making this money available to us so we can make our City even healthier and more secure.”

GRANT RECIPIENT:

• $200,000 — City of Wilmington
  • The award will be used to develop a comprehensive roadway safety action plan.

###