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The Comprehensive Highway Safety Plan - Central Safety Fund was established by the Minnesota Department of Transportation, Office of Traffic, Security and Operations and the Minnesota Department of Public Safety (DPS), Office of Traffic Safety in 2005 to provide funding for safety projects that focus on County and District-wide deployment of low cost, systematic improvements at the state, county, and local level.
This new program was established in recognition that historically over 70% of fatal crashes occur on rural roads and 45% of fatal crashes occur on local (county, township, and city) roadways. It is anticipated that this program will continue into subsequent years. When funding becomes available it is used as reimbursable grants to assist counties in conducting road safety audits and for paying the costs of constructing safety projects or funding activities to reduce the number of fatal and severe crashes on local roads. Local labor, materials and equipment may be included as part of the project cost, but are not reimbursable. The Mn/DOT Office of Traffic, Security and Operations partners with State Aid for Local Transportation to solicit Counties through an application process for projects and activities eligible for funding under this program.
The criteria for selecting projects are:
- The project must be completed and reimbursement applied for by date established each time funding becomes available
- The project must qualify as a safety project under the Comprehensive Highway Safety Plan (CHSP), and
- Counties must agree to hold a meeting involving safety partners and other community leaders such as school representatives, township officials, law enforcement and emergency responders to explain the CHSP and Towards Zero Death (TZD) goals and objectives. The goal of the community safety meeting is to develop a local safety coalition that will be instrumental in developing future strategies encompassing engineering, enforcement, education, and emergency services.
Maximum grant amounts are established with each solicitation. These funds are federal funds and the federal process must be followed for project approval.
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