City of Houston Federal Update

Bipartisan Infrastructure Law

Two Girls in the CrosswalkCompetitive Grants - Safe Streets and Roads for All - Bissonnet

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law established the new Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) discretionary program, with $5 billion in appropriated funds over 5 years, 2022-2026.

The SS4A program provides funding for two types of grants:

  • Planning and Demonstration Grants provide Federal funds to develop, complete, or supplement a comprehensive safety action plan.
  • Implementation Grants provide Federal funds to implement projects and strategies identified in an Action Plan to address a roadway safety problem. Projects and strategies can be infrastructure, behavioral, and/or operational activities.

On Feb. 1, 2023, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced $800 million in grant awards for 511 communities through the first round of funding for the SS4A grant program.

The City of Houston received $28.79 million in federal funding through the SS4A grant program for the Bissonnet Corridor Safe Streets Project.

The funding will support a seven-mile rehabilitation of Bissonnet Street from South Dairy Ashford Road to Hillcroft Avenue. The project directly supports the City of Houston’s Vision Zero Action Plan and will address one of the highest priority corridors on Houston’s High Injury Network.

The Bissonnet Corridor currently has high-risk roadway features that create unsafe conditions for commuters.

  • It has a kill or serious injury (KSI) rating of 22 per year and more than 18 per mile, and accounts for the highest number of deadly crashes and the second highest number of serious injury crashes across all city-owned streets.

Houston Planning & Development Department and Houston Public Works will redesign the street with Federal Highway Administration safety countermeasures for people walking, biking, riding transit, or driving. The redesign will feature:

  • Reconfigurations to street lanes
  • Sidewalks
  • Protected bike lanes
  • Dedicated turn lanes, including safety improvements for curbs and turns
  • Roundabouts
  • Enhanced crosswalks, rapid flash beacons, pedestrian refuge islands, and pedestrian hybrid beacons

Other Texas City awards:

  • Austin Implementation Grant - $22,866,400
  • San Antonio Implementation Grant - $4,400,000
  • HGAC Action Planning Grant - $4,000,000

In addition to Houston’s implementation award, the East End District received a $603,646 planning grant in to improve roadway safety by supporting communities in developing comprehensive safety action plans.

The East End District noted this investment is critical to understanding challenges of railroad safety and the high-injury network, identifying opportunities along corridors, and researching innovative strategies to promote safe and equitable transportation improvements in one of the most diverse communities in the Houston region.

Projects that the East End District will target with this program include those local initiatives to prevent death and serious injury on roads and streets. Additionally, this program helps correct years of lack of investment in the safety needs of underserved communities.

Bissonnet Road Map

Related Links:

Supporting Links: