UPDATED: USDOT announces availability of $1.2 billion through Safe Streets and Roads for All Grant Program

Key Takeaways

UPDATE: On April 16, USDOT released an amendment to the SS4A Program that does the following:

• Increases amount available for implementation grants from $580 million to $780 million
• Clarifies funding is "first come, first serve" and additional rounds for planning grants are subject to the availability of funds
• Moves deadline for applicant technical assistance questions from April 17 to April 24

The amendment also makes other changes. View the updated SS4A NOFO here.

On February 21, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) announced the availability of $1.2 billion through the Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) competitive grant program in Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 for transportation safety planning or construction projects. Safety is a top priority for county officials who collectively steward 45 percent of roads and 38 percent of bridges in America. 

Counties can apply directly to USDOT for SS4A funds to plan and build safety projects at an 80 percent federal cost share through two categories:

Planning and demonstration grants | $656.7 million available in FY 2024

• Funds the development, completion or supplementing of an Action Plan, a document that strategically seeks to prevent local and regional roadway injuries and deaths
• Newly establishes three application deadlines: April 4, May 16 and August 29, 2024; if an applicant is not selected in the first two rounds, they may reapply by the August deadline
• Newly establishes priority selection criteria for applicants with a fatality rate of 17 fatalities per 100,000 persons or greater
  • For a non-exhaustive list of communities that meet this criteria, click here

Implementation grants | $543.3 million available in FY 2024

• Funds the implementation and capital construction of strategies and projects identified in an Action Plan 
• Maintains single application deadline on May 16, 2024
• Allows for pre-application submission of Self-Certification Eligibility Worksheet to confirm eligibility for an Implementation Grant by April 17 
• Requires applicants with Action Plans in place to update those plans if they do not include all road users and/or is more than three years old 

Key NOFO highlights for counties 

• Like other USDOT programs, SS4A operates on a reimbursement basis where an award recipient must first incur allowable expenses and submit receipts for projects funded
• Prospective counties must submit a complete application through Valid Eval, not grants.gov 
• Rural communities are defined as jurisdictions outside an Urban Area (UA) and jurisdictions located within UAs with populations fewer than 200,000
• For multi-jurisdictional applications, applicants may propose a single Action Plan covering all jurisdictions, individual plans or a system to administer sub-awards to entities within its jurisdiction
• USDOT established a SS4A Technical Assistance Center to assist non-traditional awardees, including local governments, with federal requirements

SS4A county award recipients in FY 2023

Counties built on our success in FY 2022 with 4 Implementation Grants and 95 Planning and Demonstration grants in FY 2023, totaling $115 million for county-led projects. A full list of FY 2023 recipients can be found here. 

Relative to other USDOT grant programs, counties have fared well in SS4A awards largely because state departments of transportation are ineligible for the program.

Upcoming webinars

USDOT will host three webinars to provide an overview of the SS4A program and answer questions for each type of SS4A program. The recorded webinars can be found here.

• SS4A Action Plans | Thursday, March 7th, 1:30 – 3:00 PM EST

  • This webinar will offer a general overview of the SS4A program and the grant application process with a focus on applying for grants to develop an action plan. Register here. 

• SS4A Supplemental Design and Planning Activities | Friday, March 8th, 1:30 – 3:00 PM EST

  • This webinar will offer a general overview of the SS4A program and the grant application process, with a particular focus on applying for funding for supplemental planning and demonstration activities. Register here.

• SS4A Implementation Grants | Wednesday, March 13th, 1:30 – 3:00 PM EST

  • This webinar will offer a general overview of the SS4A program and the grant application process, with a particular focus on applying for Implementation Grants. Register here.

Stay up to date on all funding opportunities from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law using NACo’s BIL funding matrix for counties.