By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
In 2024, the city of Great Bend applied for and was awarded funding through the Safe Streets for All (SS4A) federal grant program to develop a comprehensive safety action plan. The total award was $200,000, with $160,000 of that coming via federal funding. Monday night, the city council voted 7-0 to move forward with its $40,000 share of the program. Brad Shores, officer manager at Wichita JEO, outlined what the program can do for the city.
"It is a national program," he said. "It's part of the Drive to Zero initiative, where we're not wanting, as engineers and in the infrastructure world, to accept any severe injuries or fatalities as part of our transportation system. This initiative, it is a grant, so you're paying 20 cents on the dollar."
Having a safety action plan would significantly strengthen the city's position when applying for future transportation-related grants. Shores said the program will result in a comprehensive study of Great Bend's entire transportation system from a safety perspective, particularly based on crash data, and make recommendations from that study. The city then has options on how to use the data, including:
- Location-specific safety analysis, or evaluating the crash history of the community with public engagement opportunities for members of the public who may be able to add insight to unsafe locations where no crash data exists.
- Railroad crossings and corridors, including Broadway Ave. from K-96 to McKinley, and whether the north shoulder of that stretch of road could be eliminated.
- Tricky engineering areas like the traffic dilenators north of McDonald's that are often struck by vehicles.
- Intersection analysis where pedestrian timing or signal timing may be off, or intersections without marked crossings.
"For example, we went to 10th and Main and 10th and Kansas," said Shores. "It's kind of surprising that those two intersections don't have pedestrian crossings. We know people want to cross 10th Street, north and south."
Councilmember Gary Parr said studies can be useful, but any changes would also require some buy-in from the public.
"I think the awareness is an absolute must, but you can throw all the money in the world at this," he said. "It boils down to people implementing common sense. I'm not saying we shouldn't do this. I think we should make everybody more aware of everything we can them more aware of, but I see on a daily basis where turn signals and stop signs are optional."
Councilmember Cory Urban agreed that awareness is helpful, but questioned how long any studies from the SS4A program would be considered valid.
"A lot of times, it comes down to us as a municipality having the funds to move forward," he said. "We can plan for the moon, which we should, but at the end of the day, we have to have the dollars to actually do something on the back end of it."
Shores reminded the council that $200,000 will not cover all of the items the program could accomplish.
"In a well-run Safe Streets for All study, the consultant will ask the city to put together a committee," Shores said. "We'd expect the city council to be represented, and we absolutely want EMS in the room. We want city staff in the room. We probably want the school system in the room."
The city will pay its $40,000 share from its contingency fund, leaving approximately $170,000 remaining for the rest of the calendar year.