SEMCOG announces eight grants including one to benefit Belleville

SEMCOG, the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, has awarded eight grants to conduct formal safety performance examinations of existing or planned roads/intersections across Southeast Michigan, including one to benefit the city of Belleville.
The road safety audits (RSAs) funded will be conducted by an independent, multi-disciplinary audit team and result in priority recommendations for safety improvements.
The only project in Wayne County is for Belleville. The segment of Main Street from Columbia Avenue to High Street (with a focus on the Five Points and Fourth Street intersections) in the city has been selected for a road safety audit to help address the complex design of the Five Points intersection, as well as existing and anticipated non-motorized safety concerns due to the Iron Belle Trail.
“Our region has a strong coalition of partners who are committed to putting safety first and creating a safe and equitable environment for all,” said Amy O’Leary, executive director of SEMCOG.
“We are taking a systematic approach to creating safe streets in Southeast Michigan by studying some of the locations with the greatest opportunity for impact. Each of these audits represents an opportunity to identify and implement life-saving improvements,” O’Leary said.
Other RSA projects will be in Brighton, Eastpointe, Mount Clemens, Macomb County Department of Roads, Birmingham, Lathrup Village, and Wixom.
The U.S. Department of Transportation awarded SEMCOG with a Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) supplemental planning grant to establish a regional Road Safety Audit program.
SEMCOG’s RSA Program is a competitive grant program, funding formal safety performance examinations of existing or planned roads and intersections by an independent, multi-disciplinary audit team. RSAs can be used in any phase of project development from planning and preliminary engineering, to design, to construction. They can also be used to retrofit existing locations.
The RSA program implements the Southeast Michigan Transportation Safety Plan. Project awards were selected by SEMCOG’s Regional Review Committee, comprised of local elected officials in Southeast Michigan.