The city recently received $238,685.44 in funding through a Safe Streets and Roads for All Action Plan Grant. The grant funding will help the city develop plans for its Vision Zero public safety initiative that was approved by the City Council last summer. Pictured is Mayor Eddie Sundquist with the city’s Vision Zero initiative. P-J photo by Timothy Frudd

The city received a major federal grant award last week that will help Jamestown with the planning for its Vision Zero initiative.

Last week, the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration announced that Jamestown would receive $248,685.44 in funding through a Safe Streets and Roads for All Action Plan Grant (SS4A).

According to a city press release, the grant funding will help the city develop a “Comprehensive Road Safety Plan,” which include both design and engineering work.

“This plan will help form the blueprint to projects increasing pedestrian, bicyclist, and driver safety, with a focus on improving safe routes to school,” the city stated in its press release. “The city intends to apply for a multi-million dollar implementation grant during the next round of SS4A funding to carry out the plan”

The Safe Streets and Roads for All Action Plan Grant funding is part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that was passed in 2021. Last summer, the City Council approved the city administration’s Vision Zero initiative, which aims to prevent future “roadway deaths” and “serious injuries” through a variety of public safety measures.

“I am thrilled that the city of Jamestown was one of only 500 communities nationwide selected to receive Safe Streets funding in the initial round of awards,” Mayor Eddie Sundquist said. “Every roadway death is a tragedy and reorienting our policy to view these as preventable has been apart of my mission to improve safety and quality of life of residents in all aspects. Being awarded this grant is only the first step in this process, and will allow us to find the most effective ways to save lives and make Jamestown a better place to live for all.”

The city administration’s Vision Zero is designed to “enhance” the Complete Streets program that Jamestown adopted several years ago. The Complete Streets program considers how to safely build roads for bicyclists, pedestrians, motorists and transit riders. While Sundquist previously told The Post-Journal that the city has worked to “slowly increase” public safety through the Complete Streets program, he emphasized the importance of not only constructing safer and more accessible streets but also educating local residents on public safety and changing behaviors to “ensure everyone is safe” in the community.

“It made sense to move toward a Vision Zero model because we had started seeing kids getting hurt in certain school zones,” he said. “The idea of having zero fatalities within the next 10 years is really important. We’ve really focused on ways that we can improve our streets.”

As the recipient of federal funding through the Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration, the city will be able to move forward with the next step in the Vision Zero initiative by designing a “Comprehensive Road Safety Planning.”