City of New Orleans and Downtown Development District Receive Dual Safe Streets and Roads for All Awards to Advance Comprehensive and Supplemental Traffic Safety Planning

November 20, 2024 | From City of New Orleans

City of New Orleans and Downtown Development District Receive Dual Safe Streets and Roads for All Awards to Advance Comprehensive and Supplemental Traffic Safety Planning

The City of New Orleans announces today that the Downtown Development District and the City, through the Department of Public Works (DPW) and the Office of Resilience & Sustainability (ORS), have each been awarded grants from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) Planning Program. Funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act/Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (IIJA/BIL), these two grants represent a collaborative step forward in addressing traffic safety challenges and creating safer streets for all New Orleanians.

"These two grants exemplify our commitment to creating safer, more sustainable streets while advancing New Orleans' Climate Action Plan," said Mayor LaToya Cantrell. "By addressing critical safety issues, like nighttime visibility and multimodal access in our downtown core, we're reducing emissions and building a city where everyone can move safely and efficiently. This is a crucial step toward a resilient and equitable future for all New Orleanians."

"These awards represent a significant step for safer, more equitable transportation in New Orleans," said Congressman Troy A. Carter, Sr. (LA-02). "Totaling over half a million dollars in awards, this funding will create safer traffic in the Central Business District and enhance roadway lighting across the city. These awards, and the millions of additional funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act, will decrease the traffic fatalities that disproportionately impact our most vulnerable communities. I'm proud to have championed the laws that made these projects possible and will build a safer, more accessible, and more sustainable New Orleans for everyone."

The $360,000 New Orleans Roadway Lighting Safety Supplemental Plan grant will allow the City to focus on the significant safety challenges posed by inadequate nighttime roadway lighting. With two-thirds of traffic fatalities occurring between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m., the plan aims to identify priority areas for lighting improvements, recommend best practices, and outline actionable policies to reduce nighttime crashes and fatalities. This work will build on the City's Comprehensive Safety Action Plan and will target historically disadvantaged communities that are disproportionately impacted by traffic safety issues.

"The safety of our residents on city streets is a top priority," said Rick Hathaway, Director, The Department of Public Works. "With the support of this $360,000 Safe Streets and Roads for All grant, we are taking a deliberate step toward reducing nighttime fatal crashes by identifying where street lighting infrastructure can be improved and how much funding will be needed to implement upgrades. The Department of Public Works is committed to overseeing the successful implementation of this grant, ensuring the residents of New Orleans have the visibility they need to stay safe."

Currently, the City is engaging in pilot deployments of roadway lighting equipment with multiple vendors to test innovative products in the field. This includes integration of smart technologies and alternative energy sources with the aim of improving operations while reducing maintenance costs, allowing the roadway lighting system to more effectively deliver roadway safety benefits.

Simultaneously, the $150,000 DDD's Supplemental Planning Grant focuses on the unique needs of the Central Business District (CBD). This project will analyze downtown-specific safety concerns, such as conflicts between pedestrian, bicycle, and vehicular traffic. The plan will aim to identify capital projects and policies to improve safety for all road users, particularly pedestrians and those with mobility impairments, while improving safe access for businesses, and addressing conflicts between curbside transit, freight, passenger, and parking zones that negatively impact that safety.

"Transportation safety is a key component to a thriving downtown," said Davon Barbour, President & CEO of the Downtown Development District. "DDD is thrilled to receive this grant and plan for improvements that will benefit the tens of thousands of citizens who travel our streets daily."

Together, these complementary initiatives reflect a holistic approach to addressing traffic safety across New Orleans, ensuring the benefits are felt from the heart of downtown to neighborhoods citywide. The collaborative efforts between the City and DDD demonstrate how targeted, data-driven approaches to safety planning can address citywide and localized challenges simultaneously.

These initiatives are guided by extensive community engagement and represent a significant step toward achieving New Orleans' Climate Action Plan and Comprehensive Safety Action Plan goals. Since 2022, ORS has secured over $131 million in federal awards to implement the City's Climate Action Plan goals.

For more information about ORS or these federal awards, please visit https://nola.gov/resilience-sustainability.

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