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Eastgate to create road safety plan for Valley

The U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded the Eastgate Regional Council of Governments almost $260,000 to create a comprehensive safety action plan, with the goal of eliminating roadway fatalities and serious injuries.

U.S. DOT awarded 14 Safer Streets For All (SS4A) grants throughout the state, totaling $15.4 million, according to a news release from U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio. Of that, Columbus was awarded $12 million.

The funds for these grants were secured through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

“With this investment from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we are working to make Ohio roads safer for the thousands of Ohioans who travel on them each day,” Brown said. “This funding will put in place safety plans that will help to prevent serious accidents and keep pedestrians, bicyclists and drivers safe.”

The law established the SS4A program and allocated $5 billion in funding over the next five years.

According to DOT, the creation of the plan begins with a safety analysis of existing conditions and historical trends to provide a baseline for the number of crashes involving fatality or serious injury. This includes analysis of locations where crashes are common and contributing factors.

All roadways within the jurisdiction of the planning agency should be included, without regard for who owns the roads. Eastgate Council of Governments includes local governments in Ashtabula, Trumbull and Mahoning counties, but Eastgate officials could not be reached Tuesday to clarify the exact scope of this plan.

An assessment of current policies, plans and guidelines regarding road safety should also be done to find areas of possible improvement, DOT notes.

The final safety plan should include a list of projects and strategies to eliminate roadway fatalities and serious injuries, according to DOT guidelines. This list should be prioritized in a way that provides time ranges for when these projects and strategies will be implemented.

Throughout the process, DOT requires the public be involved to give feedback for the final plan.

After the plan is complete, the planning agency must release progress reports on toward reducing serious accidents at least annually.

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