Biden-Harris administration announces $2.5 million in grant awards for Tennessee including Memphis to improve roads

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - On Wednesday, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced a historic $800 million in grant awards with Memphis included for over 500 projects through the new Safe Streets and Roads for All Grant Program, including 12 grants for communities in Tennessee.

This grant was established by President Biden, and will provide $5 billion for regional, local, and tribal initiatives.

This will help redesign roads, sidewalks, crosswalks, and to prevent deaths and serious injuries on the nation’s roadways. This investment is important as traffic fatalities reached a 16-year high in 2021 and preliminary data indicates will remain near those levels in 2022.

“Every year, crashes cost tens of thousands of American lives and hundreds of billions of dollars to our economy; we face a national emergency on our roadways, and it demands urgent action,” said Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

“We are proud that these grants will directly support hundreds of communities as they prepare steps that are proven to make roadways safer and save lives.” said Buttigieg.

The Department is awarding 12 action planning grants to help improve roadway safety in Tennessee. Some of those are Bristol, Brownsville, Chattanooga, and Harriman.

The full list of awards can be viewed here.

Click here to sign up for our newsletter!

Click here to report a spelling or grammar error. Please include the headline.