Detroit will receive $24.8 million to improve safety and accessibility at 56 high-crash intersections served by the city’s bus system, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced Wednesday.
The city has one of the highest traffic fatality rates in the country and the Detroit Department of Transportation (DDOT) was the most sued city department due to injury from city buses and other issues between 2017 and 2022, according to a BridgeDetroit analysis. In the most expensive DDOT settlement a city bus failed to stop at a red light and hit a motorcyclist, causing a traumatic brain injury and the loss of the motorcyclist’s right hand.
According to U.S. Deputy Secretary of Transportation Polly Trottenberg the funding is “especially important” in Detroit, given the high rate of fatalities, she said at a Wednesday press conference announcing grant awardees for the Safe Streets and Roads for All program.
The grant will be used to build transit islands, widen sidewalks, update curb ramps to be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act and improve intersection lighting and signal timing at the high-crash intersections. \
The money will also be used for an analysis to address gaps in bicyclist and pedestrian networks, update the City’s Comprehensive Safety Action Plan and train DDOT bus drivers to ensure safe operations around pedestrians and bicyclists.
“Every bus ride starts or ends with people walking or biking, so it’s really important that they work to improve the infrastructure around those stops,” said Megan Owens, executive director of Transportation Riders United, a Metro Detroit nonprofit transit advocacy group.
“It’s great that we get these federal grants but sometimes it can take years and years before the city actually implements it,” she said.
Owens said transit advocates spent more than a year planning with the city how to implement millions of dollars DDOT received from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), to improve transit.
“We haven’t seen any of it actually happen,” she said.
DDOT officials were not immediately available Wednesday to comment on how ARPA funds are being used to improve transportation in Detroit. Approximately $185 million of Detroit’s $826 million ARPA funds have been spent to date, according to the city’s online tracker. The funds must be completely spent by the end of 2026.
A total of $817 million in grants for cities across the country was announced Wednesday, including $24,894,430 for Dearborn to narrow Warren Avenue.
“The project is going to build a bike lane and create a buffer to mitigate floodwater, install new lights and improve safety and visibility,” said Mitch Landrieu, senior advisor to President Joe Biden and White House Infrastructure Implementation Coordinator, during Wednesday’s press conference.
Recipients of the grants must match 20 percent of the total through funds that can come from the city or state, according to federal officials, which the city said it hasn’t used yet.
“The city is finalizing its grant agreement with USDOT Federal Highways Administration for the $24.8M… and expects to begin the first series of safety projects on city streets in late 2024,” said Sam Krassenstein, the city’s chief of infrastructure.
This is the second of two award announcements for fiscal year 2023. In February, Detroit received $24.8 million to improve roads for pedestrian safety. Detroit officials were not immediately available to say if Detroit had signed agreements for the last grant.
Approximately 85% of awardees announced in the last round have grant agreements in place, federal officials said Wednesday.
Work regarding Wednesday’s announcement is expected to begin toward the end of 2025, Krassenstein said.