Minneapolis gets $20M federal grant to improve street safety

The City of Minneapolis has been given a $20 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to fund street safety projects.

“This past year I went to D.C. to advocate for this funding – thank you to the Department of Transportation and Secretary Pete Buttigieg for hearing me out and delivering this incredible $20 million investment to Minneapolis,” said Mayor Jacob Frey.

The Safe Streets and Roads for All grant will be used on high-priority projects that are part of the city’s 2023-2025 Vision Zero Action Plan, which aims to end traffic deaths and severe injuries by 2027, a press release says.

The money will specifically go toward making improvements on 25 miles of high-injury streets, including adding things like safety islands, protected bikeways, protected intersections, crosswalk signing and striping, pedestrian flashers, street lighting and more, according to the city.

Some of the grant money will also be used to improve traffic signals at 526 intersections.

The city will have five years to spend the funds following the grant agreement being signed by the city and DOT.

“We know that Native and Black residents are disproportionately impacted by traffic crashes. This grant will help us pay for important safety improvements on our streets that see the highest number of crashes,” said City Council President Andrea Jenkins. “One death on our streets is too many. This investment from the federal government is a huge help in realizing our Vision Zero goals.”