Merkley, Wyden: Over $3.6 Million for Safer Streets heading to Marion, Umatilla, and Clackamas Counties

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden today announced a total of $3,669,840 in federal funding heading to three Oregon counties to develop and update comprehensive road and street safety plans.

“Whether walking, driving, or biking, Oregonians in every corner of the state deserve safe streets in their communities to get where they need to go,” said Merkley. “These investments will transform Oregon’s roadways in Marion, Umatilla, and Clackamas counties into safer places for bicyclists, pedestrians, and drivers. I will continue working to ensure every Oregonian is able to move about their daily lives conveniently, without fear of accident or injury.”

“Oregonians deserve to be safe on our streets no matter whether they’re on foot, on a bike or in a car,” Wyden said. “I’m gratified this federal investment will help ensure safer roadways in Clackamas, Marion and Umatilla counties, and I’ll keep battling for similar community livability resources in every corner of the state.”

These plans will integrate equity and community engagement and align with the requirements for the action plan in the Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) program, which was created under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

Safe Streets and Roads for All awards can be found below:

• $2.8 million to the City of Salem to update its existing Vision Zero Plan to meet SS4A Action Plan requirements by installing 20 MPH signs on residential streets, acquiring speed radar trailers and signs, and piloting an associated education campaign. This pilot demonstration activity will provide valuable data on the effectiveness of speed limit reductions in residential areas.
• $539,840 to Umatilla County to update the City of Umatilla and Umatilla County’s comprehensive action plan.
• $330,000 to Clackamas County to update the county’s existing Transportation Safety Action Plan to integrate equity and community engagement and align the plan with the SS4A Action Plan requirements.

“We’ve been lobbying our state and federal partners and hoping that something like this would come through. Keeping our streets safe to bike on, walk on, and drive on is a huge issue for every growing city. This is going to be a tremendous help in saving the lives of our residents,” said Mayor Chris Hoy, City of Salem.

"We are grateful, once again, for the advocacy and hard work from Senators Merkley and Wyden to ensure the safety of all Oregonians and our visitors who use our roadways. It was the efforts of Senators Merkley and Wyden that largely lead the way of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) that established the Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) program that gave us this opportunity to apply.  These funds will bring us closer to reaching the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Roadway Safety Strategy to reduce or eliminate roadway deaths through a Safe System Approach. We are also excited at the opportunity to work collaboratively with Umatilla County, once again, through our complementary projects. The County's Asset Management & Real-Time Transportation Situational Awareness System initiative will focus on all transportation systems in the unincorporated areas of the County, while the City of Umatilla's Action Plan will focus specifically on the needs and priorities within City limits. The result will be a large step forward for our collaborative populations towards making our respective transportation systems safer for all. Both the City and County are committed to coordinating these development efforts in the region to increase the effectiveness and safety of our roads; an effort that was unlikely to be made possible without the assistance of the SS4A funds,” said City Manager, David Stockdale, City of Umatilla.

“Clackamas County is proud to be the first county in the US to have adopted a Transportation Safety Action Plan with a goal to reduce and eventually eliminate fatal and serious injury crashes,” said Chair Tootie Smith, Clackamas County. “This Safe Streets for All grant will help the County enhance this important work to create safer roads in our rural and suburban communities alike.”

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