Riverside receives $7.5 million grant to improve street safety

The city of Riverside was given a $7.5 million grant to improve traffic safety along some of their busiest streets thanks to a federal program. 

The funds, which come from the Safe Streets and Roads for All grant program, will be directed to the Riverside Neighborhood Safety Investment project. It aims to build improvements on Arlington Avenue, Adams Street, La Sierra Avenue and the 91 Freeway, city officials said in a statement, also noting that those locations were chosen because they have a history of incidents involving pedestrian, bicyclists and vehicles. 

"We want our community to be active by biking and walking, but safety is a concern for many people," said Riverside Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson in a statement. "The federal funds coming to Riverside will bring much needed improvements to our streets, providing our residents a safer place to walk, cycle and exercise."

Amongst the improvements made will be more than 16 miles of bike lanes, high visibility crosswalks and audible pedestrian push buttons at 85 different intersections, ADA-compliant curb ramps at eight intersections, over half a mile of new sidewalks and about a mile of traffic-calming improvements like speed humps. 

A portion of the funds allocated to improving the 91 Freeway will include a marketplace pedestrian and bicycle bridge, citywide Intelligent Transportation master plan study and a mast plan study from the American Disability Act Transition.

City officials believe that the completed project will cost around $9.3 million, nearly $2 million of which they will be contributing. 

Riverside was the only city in the county to receive the grant and was one of 11 jurisdictions statewide to receive money from the program. 

The U.S. Department of Transportation's program allocates grants across the nation to prevent death and serious injury on roadways. In their first three years, they have awarded $2.7 billion to more than 1,400 communities.