Senate infrastructure bill has $300 million for rural road safety; some states are already focusing on the problem

The recently-passed Senate infrastructure bill has funding for a longstanding problem: unsafe rural roads. More than 16,000 people died on rural roads in the U.S. in 2019, according to the most recent National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data available. That's nearly half of the nation's annual traffic fatalities, though only about one-fifth of the population lives in rural areas, Jenni Bergal reports for Stateline.

The Senate bill "would require a study of the issue and launch a new rural road grant program that includes $300 million for high-risk rural road safety programs. And safety analysis should be part of the many individual projects funded by the package, advocates say," Bergal reports. "Relatively simple engineering changes, such as rumble strips, median barriers, pavement markings, better lighting and wider shoulders could make a big difference in rural road safety, transportation experts and advocates say." Another issue that contributes to higher rural road fatality rates: emergency responders often take longer to arrive at the scene and longer to get patients to a hospital.

Some state transportation departments are already tackling the problem.

"South Carolina, for example, is investing $124 million over 10 years to make rural roads safer by installing rumble strips, wider pavement markings, brighter signs, high-friction surface treatments, guardrails and other improvements," Bergal reports. "In Minnesota, the state transportation department has installed technology at dozens of rural intersections to give motorists real-time warnings about traffic conditions."

And in Kansas, "where about 90% of the roads are rural and most are owned by counties, state Department of Transportation officials decided to change the way they viewed crash data and how and where to make changes," Bergal reports. Data showed that roadway departures, or anything that makes drivers unintentionally leave the road, were the biggest contributors to serious or fatal accidents.

The department has allotted $4 million in federal funds each year for the program, including $1 million a year for a consultant to help the state's 105 counties create safety plans for their rural roads. "The plans will recommend engineering changes that local governments can make to prevent crashes, such as flattening slopes, widening shoulders, installing pavement markings and rumble strips and removing trees that may be too close to the road. The state is paying for 90% with federal dollars; local governments are picking up the rest," Bergal reports. "When the program started in 2016, Kansas was averaging 207 severe crashes a year on rural roads ... That number dropped to 189 as of 2018, the latest year data is available."