Staff recommends that the Council approve the City's Safe Streets for All application to the US DOT and accept the funds if awarded. 

The City is applying to the USDOT's Safe Streets for All (SS4A) program to fund Safe Routes to School improvements in Billings. According to the USDOT, "the purpose of SS4A grants is to improve roadway safety by significantly reducing or eliminating roadway fatalities and serious injuries through...implementation focused on all users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, public transportation users, motorists, personal conveyance and micromobility users, and commercial vehicle operators. The program provides funding to develop the tools to help strengthen a community’s approach to roadway safety and save lives..." Kittleson & Associates, Inc. is the consultant assisting with the completion of the application. 

The City is compiling a package of Safe Routes to School improvements to submit for its SS4A grant application. The Safe Streets for All grant has a strong focus on improving routes along a community's High Injury Network (HIN). To be successful, the majority of projects in the grant application must be located on the HIN or provide a nearby alternative for vulnerable road users. A HIN is a network of roads with an outsized percentage of crashes. The HIN analysis was compiled by Kittleson & Associates, Inc. using 2017-2021 crash data. The projects from the 2022 Safe Routes to School Plan Update were overlaid on the map of the HIN to select projects that would be the most appropriate for SS4A funding. In addition, bicycle and pedestrian projects identified in other plans such as the 2016 Billings Area Bikeway and Trails Master Plan and the Long Range Transportation Plan were added to the map. Projects that were close to schools and the HIN were selected to be added to the grant project list. The total application package is expected to total between $3.5-$4.5 million but may vary slightly. 

The SS4A grant requires a 20% local match. The City will use its Safe Routes to School set-aside of $500,000 each year as the match for the projects in the Safe Routes to School Plan Update. For the projects not listed in the Safe Routes to School Plan Update, the funding identified in FY24 for a bicycle boulevard ($240,000 total) will be used as a match. 

Additionally, the Planning Division is committing $5,000/year ($15,000 total) over FY25-27 to fund a Safe Routes to School campaign that would be matched with $60,000 of federal funding, if awarded. The Safe Routes to School Plan Update suggested a community-wide Safe Routes to School campaign. Guidance from the USDOT suggests that adding the campaign will strengthen Billings' overall SS4A application.

Unfortunately, projects from the Phase 2 Safe Routes to School Plan cannot be added to this grant application as the plan is still currently under development. 

Projects are expected to be as shown on the attached flyer but may change slightly before final grant submittal.

City Council may:

• Approve the grant application and acceptance of funds if awarded; or,
• Not Approve the grant application. 

There is no disadvantage to submitting this grant application. The SS4A program provides the opportunity to bring millions of dollars to Billings to fund Safe Routes to School improvements using match funds already committed in the CIP. 

If funded, this grant has the opportunity to bring approximately $3-$3.5 million dollars to Billings in support of Safe Routes to School. The match for physical projects is expected to be between $750,000 and $875,000. These dollars will come out of funds that are already committed through the CIP under the Safe Routes to School and bicycle boulevard categories. An additional $15,000 will be provided out of the Planning Division's budget over the span of three fiscal years.