Improving Safety with Proactive Transportation Planning
Our Transportation team has partnered with communities across the Northeast to develop Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) Comprehensive Safety Action Plans that combine data-drive analysis, meaningful public engagement, and proven safety strategies. We also support implementation through project-level planning, design, and development. Through this work, our engineers and planners help communities identify priorities, pursue funding, and advance improvements that make roads safer for all users.
The SS4A program, established in 2022, introduced federal grant funding to support local and Tribal transportation safety initiatives focused on preventing roadway fatalities and serious injuries.
Below are several examples of our SS4A work in Connecticut:
Suffield Safety Study
Prior to the introduction of the SS4A Program, our team supported the Town of Suffield in completing a town-wide transportation safety study focused on identifying roadway safety concerns and developing implementable, cost-effective improvements. The effort combined detailed crash data analysis with extensive public engagement, including an interactive mapping survey that allowed residents to share local safety concerns. The study produced a prioritized set of infrastructure, operational, and educational strategies, organized as short-, mid-, and long-term project priorities to improve safety for pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists across the community. Recommended infrastructure improvements focused on traffic control, geometric modifications, roadway signage, and expansion of pedestrian infrastructure. This comprehensive plan was later certified under SS4A program guidelines as a Safety Action Plan, enabling the Town to pursue federal funding to support project implementation.
RiverCOG Regional Safety Action Plan
Comprising 17 Connecticut municipalities along the Connecticut River, the Lower Connecticut River Valley Council of Governments (RiverCOG), our team supported the development of a SS4A Comprehensive Safety Action Plan to provide recommendations on enhancing safety for all road users. We conducted a comprehensive regional safety analysis to identify high-risk roadways and vulnerable user trends with an emphasis on aligning safety investments with documented crash patterns, roadway conditions, and community access needs across municipal boundaries. Extensive public and stakeholder engagement, including municipal interviews and interactive online tools, informed the identification of priority corridors and strategies. Approved in early 2026, the regional Safety Action Plan provides a coordinated framework to help participating communities align safety priorities, pursue SS4A Implementation funding, and advance transportation safety improvements that address both local and regional needs utilizing the Safe System Approach to enhance safety and accessibility.
Westport Safety Action Plan
The Town of Westport secured a SS4A grant to develop a Comprehensive Safety Action Plan and enlisted our team to lead the effort and position the Town for future funding under the program. We conducted a detailed safety analysis of crash data to identify high-incident locations, informing the development of a high-risk network that highlighted areas of concern. Stakeholder and public meetings, along with an interactive online mapping tool, further refined priority project locations. The plan evaluated existing policies and processes, identified high-risk corridors and intersections, and established a prioritized set of infrastructure, policy, and behavioral strategies to reduce serious injuries and fatalities. Following completion of the plan, we assisted the Town with an SS4A Grant application, resulting in nearly $900,000 in additional federal funding support for supplemental planning and demonstration activities.