The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) announced Thursday it had awarded 70 tribes nearly $21 million in grants to improve roads on tribal lands.
The grants will fund more than 90 projects that will address road safety on tribal lands, where crashes occur more frequently, the agency said. Addressing safety on tribal roads is part of the US DOT’s National Roadway Safety Strategy, and the grant money is part of President Joe Biden’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
“This funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will not only improve safety on Tribal roads for drivers, but it will improve safety and accessibility for other users such as road work crews, pedestrians, and bicyclists,” said Federal Highway Administrator Shailen Bhatt. “We’re pleased to help Tribes implement these projects that will help save lives in Tribal communities.”
As part of the FHWA’s Tribal Transportation Program Safety Fund, the funding will go to 16 tribes that have not previously participated in the program. Those tribes will use the funding to develop their first transportation safety plan, officials said. Funding goes directly to the Tribes for various projects, including developing safety plans, data analysis, pedestrian infrastructure improvements, and roadway departure countermeasures, among other safety issues.
Among the awards are $792,440 for the Colorado River Indian Tribes in Arizona for a project in La Paz County to implement roadway departure countermeasures and to implement pedestrian safety improvements; $300,000 for the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians in Minnesota for pedestrian safety and walkability improvements; and $600,00 for the Fort Peck Assiniboine & Sioux Tribes in Montana for roadway infrastructure improvements.