By Naveen Athrappully

Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy has announced almost $1 billion in funding to “make roads safer for American families,” the Department of Transportation (DOT) said in a Dec. 23 statement.

“This investment will support projects that improve intersection safety, build roundabouts, upgrade sidewalks, and strengthen emergency response services,” the DOT said.

The agency is disbursing more than $982 million in grants to 521 projects across 18 tribes, 48 states, and Puerto Rico under the Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) competitive grant program.

SS4A was set up under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2021. The IIJA appropriated $5 billion for the 2022-2026 period for the SS4A, which aims to improve roadway safety by investing the funds in strategies that will cut down fatalities and serious injuries among motorists, transit users, truck drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians.

In April, Duffy announced that SS4A was retooled to remove diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and environmental justice requirements put in place by the previous administration, the statement said.

The DOT said that “these absurd requirements were bogging down the system and making it harder for dollars to flow to critical safety projects across the country.”

Among the 521 projects being funded are a $5.6 million grant to Memphis, Tennessee, for building a traffic incident management training facility, and a $21.4 million grant to Huntsville, Alabama, for constructing a cable-suspended pedestrian and bicycle bridge.

The previous administration “inserted radical DEI and Green New Scam requirements into these safety grant programs—making it harder for communities to apply for these funds and delaying critical projects,“ Duffy said. ”Under President Trump’s leadership, we’ve put aside the woke nonsense and focused on one goal: safety.”

“We’re moving these investments at the speed of Trump to save lives and deliver infrastructure upgrades that will benefit the American people for generations.”

On Jan. 10, the Biden DOT announced $1.32 billion in infrastructure grants under the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity program for 109 projects.

At the time, then-Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the projects would “make roads safer, help mitigate the impact of climate change, and ensure that people in communities of all sizes can get where they need to go safely and efficiently.”

Earlier, in September 2024, Buttigieg unveiled more than $1 billion in grants through the SS4A program to boost safety on American roads.

The program was making “historic investments in rural and underserved communities,” DOT said at the time. “Over half of SS4A funds will benefit underserved communities, providing equitable investment to places that need funding the most.”

The nearly $1 billion in grants announced on Dec. 23 is one of the latest infrastructure pushes from the Trump administration.

According to the DOT, some of the projects being funded will be implemented in roadways and areas that face various safety issues, resulting in more than 7,000 serious injuries and roughly 1,000 lives lost over the past five years.

In July, Duffy announced nearly $500 million in awards for 30 projects under the Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) grant program, aimed at supporting critical rail, roadway, maritime, aviation, and transit infrastructure to cut down congestion, improve safety, and trigger economic growth.

“Roads and bridges received 77 percent of the funding from this grant series to reinforce the arteries of the American economy,” the DOT said.

On Dec. 15, Duffy announced $1.5 billion in BUILD grants for fiscal year 2026, clarifying that the merit criteria for grants will prioritize increasing safety measures and expanding transportation options, according to a DOT statement.

In addition, the department will fund projects aimed at beautifying transportation infrastructure, improving roadway capacity, supporting U.S. energy dominance, and facilitating tourism.

The program aims to identify transportation projects with the potential of having “significant local or regional impacts,” DOT said.

Duffy said that America was “building again” under President Donald Trump. The previous administration “twisted these grants to advance their radical climate and social agenda. We’ve ripped out the red tape and refocused the program on advancing safe and innovative projects that lower costs and improve America’s outdated transportation networks,” he said.

Furthermore, Duffy announced over $5 billion in funding on Sept. 22 for building safer, more reliable railroads. This includes improving grade crossings. Inefficiencies in this area caused over 2,000 incidents and 200 fatalities every year, the DOT said.

Funds will also be used for passenger rail capacity and reliability projects.