News Release

SOUTH BEND — The U.S. Department of Transportation announced $800 million in grant awards for 510 communities across the country through the first round of funding for the Safe Streets and Roads for All grant program.

There are 10 Indiana recipients including the Michiana Area Council of Governments receiving a total of $1.8 million. The funding will be utilized to support regional and local plans, projects and strategies that prevent roadway deaths and serious injuries.

MACOG will receive a $500,000 grant to develop a Regional Safety Action Plan focusing on strategic and prioritized approaches to reducing roadway fatalities and serious injuries within the four-county region (Elkhart, Kosciusko, Marshall and St. Joseph). When the plan is completed, local communities in the region will be eligible for implementation grant funding.

The nine other Indiana recipients include the City of East Chicago, City of Gary, City of Hammond, City of Kokomo, City of Noblesville, City of Shelbyville, Dubois County, Huntington County and Whitley County.

“Over the years, MACOG has taken several initiatives to promote roadway safety. Coupled with our existing work, this investment will allow MACOG to develop a strategic approach to roadway safety and ultimately accelerate our safety efforts by five years,” said James Turnwald, executive director of MACOG.

“I am thrilled to see hardworking Hoosiers’ taxpayer dollars coming back home to the Second District with this investment. I look forward to partnering with MACOG to help make our communities an even better — and safer — place to live, work, and raise a family,” said U.S. Congressman Rudy Yakym (IN-02).

Congress under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law created the SS4A program. The program supports U.S. DOT’s comprehensive approach, laid out in the National Roadway Safety Strategy, to significantly reduce serious injuries and deaths on the U.S.’ highways, roads and streets and is part of U.S. DOT’s work toward an ambitious long-term goal of reaching zero roadway fatalities. This comes at a time when traffic fatalities are at the highest level they have been at in over a decade.

The MACOG region has a fatality rate of 11.13 per 100,000 people. MACOG is also making sure that attention will be given to rural counties, such as Kosciusko and Marshall, as their fatality rates are significantly higher than the regional average, with rates of 15.94 and 17.22 per 100,000 people.

“We face a national crisis of fatalities and serious injuries on our roadways, and these tragedies are preventable — so as a nation we must work urgently and collaboratively to save lives,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “The funds we are making available today from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will help communities large and small take action to protect all Americans on our roads.”

“The rise in deaths and serious injuries on our public roads affects people of every age, race and income level, in rural communities and big cities alike,” said Deputy Federal Highway Administrator Stephanie Pollack. “This program will provide leaders in communities across the country with the resources they need to make roads safer for everyone.”

Read more about the grant awards at www.transportation.gov/grants/ss4a/2022-awards-action-plan-grants and to learn more about upcoming events in the MACOG, visit www.macog.com/