LCEO's regional approach leads to $24.5 million Safe Streets for All grant for northwest Ohio
Lucas, Wood, Ottawa and Sandusky counties received a $24.5 million grant as part of the federal Safe Streets and Roads for All program. (Lucas County Engineer's Office)
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(LUCAS COUNTY, Ohio) – The Lucas County Engineer’s Office is pleased to announce the United States Department of Transportation has selected our office along with Lucas, Ottawa, Wood and Sandusky counties for a $24.5 million grant as part of the Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) program.
This award comes on the heels of a year-long process by the four counties to create a regional Transportation Safety Action Plan, with the goal of reducing death and injury on our transportation network and improving safety and efficiency for all of our communities for the future. In February 2023, the four counties received $400,000 in the first round of SS4A funding to come up with the plan. |
“We believe that the need for safer streets does not stop at the city, village, township, or county line. It takes all jurisdictions working together with a common vision to have zero deaths and serious injuries on our roadways to achieve success.,” said Lucas County Engineer Mike Pniewski, who helped lead the four-county team. “We believe we were successful because of our regional approach to address safer roads and traffic safety. We appreciate the efforts of our many partners including the County Engineers of the participating counties, the Cities of Bowling Green, Fremont, and Toledo, as well as our congressional representatives, Senators Brown and Vance and Representatives Latta and Kaptur.”
Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (OH-09), who represents parts of all four counties, and Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), who helped write and pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that created SS4A, believe these investments in our region will have a transformative impact for years to come.
“It is rewarding to see our local communities in Lucas, Wood, Ottawa, and Sandusky counties come together to draw down this $24.5 Million federal award for comprehensive solutions to eliminate traffic fatalities, and to promote safety on our roadways," Kaptur said. “Working together we are delivering actionable investment across our region.
““With this latest investment from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we are making our roads safer,” Brown said. “This investment will allow Northwest Ohio communities to improve local streets to help to prevent serious accidents and keep Ohioans safe on the road.
The Lucas County Engineer’s Office will use $1.2 million for an education and outreach campaign that will address action elements in the Northwest Ohio Transportation Safety Action plan to influence and ultimately change driver behavior in the four-county region. It will also a fund a one-of-its-kind study of the impacts of roundabouts on rural transportation corridors on traffic speed and traffic calming and the effects they have on overall traffic safety. This is in part due to the positive impact roundabouts have had on Lucas County roadways, both urban and rural alike.
“During the development of the Regional Transportation Safety Action Plan, by talking to citizens, we found there is a need to educate people on the direct linkage between driver behavior and expectations and roadway safety, Pniewski said. “Much like the campaign to reduce drinking and driving, we found that if people see the direct connection between types of driver behavior and the resulting deaths and serious injuries, changes in behavior will result.”
Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (OH-09), who represents parts of all four counties, and Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), who helped write and pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that created SS4A, believe these investments in our region will have a transformative impact for years to come.
“It is rewarding to see our local communities in Lucas, Wood, Ottawa, and Sandusky counties come together to draw down this $24.5 Million federal award for comprehensive solutions to eliminate traffic fatalities, and to promote safety on our roadways," Kaptur said. “Working together we are delivering actionable investment across our region.
““With this latest investment from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we are making our roads safer,” Brown said. “This investment will allow Northwest Ohio communities to improve local streets to help to prevent serious accidents and keep Ohioans safe on the road.
The Lucas County Engineer’s Office will use $1.2 million for an education and outreach campaign that will address action elements in the Northwest Ohio Transportation Safety Action plan to influence and ultimately change driver behavior in the four-county region. It will also a fund a one-of-its-kind study of the impacts of roundabouts on rural transportation corridors on traffic speed and traffic calming and the effects they have on overall traffic safety. This is in part due to the positive impact roundabouts have had on Lucas County roadways, both urban and rural alike.
“During the development of the Regional Transportation Safety Action Plan, by talking to citizens, we found there is a need to educate people on the direct linkage between driver behavior and expectations and roadway safety, Pniewski said. “Much like the campaign to reduce drinking and driving, we found that if people see the direct connection between types of driver behavior and the resulting deaths and serious injuries, changes in behavior will result.”
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The Northwest Ohio SS4A Implementation Project consisting of these four counties, have worked together toward a shared goal of eliminating deaths and serious injuries for all road users by 2045.
“It doesn’t matter if you live in a rural or urban area, the need to work toward zero deaths exists across Northwest Ohio,” Pniewski said. “The planning process showed all of us that our safety issues are regional in scope and need and the best way to implement the solutions to fulfill the need of improving the safety of our citizens is to work together. By being each other’s cheerleader, we all win.”
“It doesn’t matter if you live in a rural or urban area, the need to work toward zero deaths exists across Northwest Ohio,” Pniewski said. “The planning process showed all of us that our safety issues are regional in scope and need and the best way to implement the solutions to fulfill the need of improving the safety of our citizens is to work together. By being each other’s cheerleader, we all win.”
