Established by the Biden admin, requirements for the $5 billion federal Safe Streets & Roads for All (SS4A) program to fund transportation safety improvements are tightening under Trump. Unfortunately, it could be a step backwards for VisionZero programs. What does mean for Arlington?
One of the tighter new requirements for SS4A grantees is mandating they be an official agency created by authority of their state, presumably not an independent transportation org or local public-private partnership, as per Transportation For America. Thankfully, I'm reading this new "state created authority" requirement as not affecting Arlington at all since our local transportation agencies Arlington County Environmental Services and Northern Virginia Transportation Commission are officially established through state authority.
Unfortunately, another new change to SS4A grants by the Trump admin is to look unfavorably on projects that "reduce lane capacity for vehicles", so sadly no road diets are likely under this program, which is one of the best ways to improve road safety to reach our VisionZero goals.
Arlington had applied for SS4A funding for a project every year to "reconfigure interchange ramps onto and off Arlington Blvd between Washington Blvd and westbound Arlington Blvd to create a new straighter, bi-directional ramp, with signals..." but that project has been rejected every time.
On the upside, the SS4A grant prioritizes projects which "have not previously received funding from this program" (Transportation For America) so as Arlington continues to design improvements to the Washington Blvd & Arlington Blvd interchange there is hope for future approval. Subscribe to Sustainable Mobility for Arlington County for updates to this project.