DOT 123-08
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Contact: Doug Hecox
Tel.: (202) 366-0660

USDOT Awards $14.7 Million for Rural Roads Safety
‘Rural Safety Innovation Program’ Funding Latest Tool in Effort to Safeguard Drivers

RAYMOND, Miss. – Fourteen states, three counties and two parishes competed for and will receive $14.7 million in Rural Safety Innovation Program (RSIP) funds to improve safety on rural roads, Deputy Secretary Thomas J. Barrett said today.

“Making one road safer is important. But making rural roads around the country less deadly is absolutely essential,” said U.S. Transportation Deputy Secretary Thomas J. Barrett, who personally presented awards to officials in Mississippi today. “Thanks to these funds our rural roads are on their way to becoming as safe as they are beautiful.”

Rural roads carry less than half of America’s traffic but account for more than half of the nation’s vehicular deaths. Last February, the U.S. Department of Transportation launched the “Rural Safety Initiative” to address this issue.

Though last year’s fatality rate – 1.37 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled – is the lowest in the nation’s history, the 41,059 fatalities in 2007 remain “entirely too high,” said Barrett. “The RSIP program will help us put a national focus on a local problem.”

The awards, made possible by funds from the USDOT’s Delta Region Transportation Development Program and Intelligent Transportation Systems Program, are part of a $287 million effort to help local and state governments reduce crashes on dangerous rural roads.

The RSIP recipients include:

 

Project Lead                           Grant Amount                         Project______________

Arizona DOT                            $   480,000      I-10 Severe Weather Warning System

Arkansas Highway                    $1,540,786      Cable median barrier on I-55
and Transportation Dept.                                  in Crittenden County

California DOT                         $1,575,175      Coordinated speed management in work zones

California/El Dorado County     $   304,000      Intersection safety using ITS technologies

Colorado DOT                         $   324,390      Speed management on US 160
                                                                    Wolf Creek Pass Snow Shed

Colorado DOT                         $   140,749      Speed information on approach to curves
                                                                    on US 50 in Fremont County 

Illinois DOT                              $   344,000      Rural curve improvement strategy on county
                                                                      and township highway

Illinois DOT                              $     40,000      Vehicle actuated advanced warning on curves

Iowa DOT                                $   500,000      Traffic and criminal software improvements

Kansas DOT                            $   284,000      Dynamic message signs and road
                                                                    weather information system

Louisiana/Rapides Parish          $1,140,943      Roadway departure crash reduction action plan

Louisiana/Grant Parish              $   597,954     Roadway departure crash reduction action plan

Louisiana DOT                         $1,925,983      Rural intersection safety implementation plan

Minnesota DOT                       $   160,000      Installation of dynamic curve warning systems

Mississippi DOT                       $1,925,983      Low-cost road departure crash countermeasures

Mississippi/Hinds County          $   303,552      Low-cost road departure crash countermeasures

Missouri DOT                          $   800,000      Dynamic message signs and closed-circuit TV
                                                                    on I-57, I-55 and US 60

South Carolina DOT                 $   840,000      Decrease hydroplaning on
                                                                    US 25 in Greeneville County

Tennessee DOT                       $   650,800      Sign inventory and Assessment/Management
                                                                    System Project

Washington/King County          $   202,400      Advanced curve warning and driver
                                                                    feedback signs

Wisconsin DOT                        $   609,000      Rural thru-stop intersection crash prevention


For more information on the USDOT’s Rural Safety Initiative, visit http://www.dot.gov/affairs/ruralsafety/