Title
Resolution to Amend the Fiscal Year 2025 Council Approved Budget and Accept and Appropriate the Safe Streets and Roads for All Planning and Development Grant Awarded by the United States Department of Transportation for the City of Hampton - Hampton Safety Corridor Plan
Purpose
The U.S. Department of Transportation (“USDOT”) Safe Streets and Roads for All (“SS4A”) program provides grants to local, regional, and Tribal communities for implementation, planning, and demonstration activities as part of a systematic approach to prevent deaths and serious injuries on the nation’s roadways.
The Hampton Safety Corridor Plan seeks to prioritize safety for all road users throughout the City of Hampton (the “City”) by eliminating the possibility for fatalities and severe injuries, thus advancing the City’s Vision Zero initiative of zero roadway fatalities and severe injuries by 2050. Vision Zero is a nationwide initiative through the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) that implements a holistic, safe system approach aimed at eliminating all traffic fatalities and severe injuries suffered by all road users while increasing safe, healthy, equitable mobility for all on City roadways.
The Hampton City Council approved a Resolution 23-0172 in support of this initiative and Public Works initiated this grant process at that time.
Discussion
The SS4A grant will enable the design of a multimodal safety action plan for the City which will assess safety for all facilities throughout the City and identify pedestrian facilities with the greatest need for safety improvement.
Impact
The City has been awarded $240,000 in federal grant funding from the USDOT. The City will provide a $60,000 cash match equating to 20% of the project cost, which is budgeted in the Capital Projects Fund and can be transferred to the Grants Fund, for a total grant amount of $300,000. The City will be required to enter into a grant agreement with USDOT to receive the funds.
Rec
Approve Resolution.
Body
WHEREAS, in 2023, the Hampton City Council approved a resolution in support of Vision Zero, a nationwide initiative by the Federal Highway Administration, to use a safe system approach to reach zero deaths within the transportation system;
WHEREAS, in furtherance of Vision Zero, in 2023 the City’s Public Works Department also applied for a grant, that the United States Department of Transportation (“USDOT”) has now awarded for the Safe Streets and Roads for All Grant (“SS4A”) to the City of Hampton (the “City”) in the amount of $240,000;
WHEREAS, the SS4A program requires a local cash match of 20% of the total project cost;
WHEREAS, the City can provide its local cash match of $60,000 by transferring the funds from the Capital Projects Fund to the Grants Fund for the Hampton Safety Corridor Plan Grant Matching Funds account;
WHEREAS, the combined funds of the SS4A award and the required local cash match from the City, which total $300,000, will be used by the City to fund the design of the Hampton Corridor Safety Plan; and
WHEREAS, the City will receive the grant award upon execution of the USDOT’s Grant Agreement under the SS4A program.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the City Council of the City of Hampton, Virginia hereby amends its Fiscal Year 2025 Council Approved Budget to:
(1) accept and appropriate the Safe Streets and Roads for All Grant award in the amount of $240,000 from the United States Department of Transportation to the Grant Fund; and
(2) approve the transfer of $60,000 from the Capital Projects Fund to the Grants Fund for the purpose of funding the design of the Hampton Safety Corridor Plan.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the City Council authorizes the City Manager, or her designee, to take any and all actions necessary to carry out the purposes of this Resolution, including but not limited to the execution of the USDOT’s Grant Agreement, subject to approval by the City Attorney.