In 2022, the Indian Nations Council of Governments (INCOG), the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for the Tulsa region, applied for and was awarded a US Department of Transportation (USDOT) discretionary Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) grant on behalf of six local governments. They include the Cities of Broken Arrow, Jenks, Owasso, and Tulsa and the Counties of Tulsa and Wagoner. The purpose of the SS4A program is to, “provide 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 total federal award amount was $21,200,000. This was matched with 20% local funding ($5,300,000), making the total project amount $26,500,000. There are two components to the project. The first component is an update of the regional Local Road Safety Plan (LRSP), and the second is to plan and implement proven safety countermeasures on local roadways. The LRSP’s goal is to reduce transportation-related deaths on the region’s roads by 25% by 2030, and the safety countermeasures each local government will implement on their roadways will help reduce the number of crashes and fatalities. Examples of countermeasures that decrease crashes and fatalities are flashing yellow arrows and backplates on traffic signals with reflective borders. A full list of the potential countermeasures to be implemented can be found at Roadway Safety Countermeasures