Elizabethtown receives more than $13 million to improve road safety

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The city of Elizabethtown will receive more than $13 million in state and federal money to help make its roads safer.

As part of the Safe Streets and Roads For All program, Gov. Andy Beshear announced Thursday that the Vision Zero Elizabethtown project received an $11.1 million grant funded by the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The state is adding $2.3 million to that total.

"We're experiencing an economic and industrial boom in the city of Elizabethtown, and that's due to the hard work of the Governor, the Cabinet for Economic Development and a lot of people on the local level," Elizabethtown Mayor Jeff Gregory said in a news release Thursday. "And because of that, we're working hard to make sure our infrastructure stays ahead of the game. This grant money is going to be huge for us because it identifies two different corridors that are most at risk statistically for injury accidents, and we'll be able to put this money towards updating that infrastructure, making people safer and saving lives."

Gregory did not specify which two corridors he was referring to but mentioned projects that were possible with this funding such as sidewalks, lighting, road diets and roundabouts.

The city's Vision Zero Elizabethtown initiative is aimed at eliminating road fatalities. There are five key principles, the city says, to create safer roads:

Prevent crashes and fatalities
Design for human mistakes/limitations
Control speeding through design
Individual responsibility
Proactively identify and address risks

"Vision Zero acknowledges that people will sometimes make mistakes, so the road system and related policies should be designed to ensure those inevitable mistakes do not result in severe injuries or fatalities," the city says on its website.

Beshear's announcement Thursday was just one part of nearly $28.5 million going toward seven grants across the state. The other six projects are:

Danville: $12.26 million
- South Danville Bypass Safety Improvements
Henderson County Fiscal Court: $3.31 million
- Drive to Zero
Boone County Fiscal Court: $709,000
- Boone County Fiscal Court Demonstration Activities
City of London: $160,000
- City of London Action Plan for Safe Streets and Roads for All
City of Versailles: $108,000
- Driving Toward Zero: A Commitment to Eliminate Traffic Fatalities in Woodford County, Kentucky
Louisville Metro Government: $800,000
- Louisville Metro Government Supplemental Planning

Below is the full "Safety Action Plan" for Vision Zero Elizabethtown:

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