{"id":1250,"date":"2023-11-08T15:35:12","modified":"2024-09-02T20:29:31","slug":"fetterman-introduces-bill-to-make-american-streets-safer","link":"https:\/\/www.fetterman.senate.gov\/fetterman-introduces-bill-to-make-american-streets-safer\/","title":{"rendered":"Fetterman Introduces Bill to Make American Streets Safer"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON, DC \u2013 <\/b><\/span>Pennsylvania U.S. Senator John Fetterman on Tuesday introduced the Building Safer Streets Act, <\/i>his most recent legislation to improve street infrastructure and prevent the loss of lives on unsafe streets. Senator Fetterman and expert witnesses spoke yesterday\u00a0about the importance of the bill at an EPW subcommittee hearing on roadway safety.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe bottom line is that we are facing a street safety crisis in America \u2014 and in Pennsylvania. The thousands of lives we lose due to unsafe streets is unacceptable, and <\/b><\/span>it\u2019s<\/b><\/span> long past time we in Washington do something about it,\u201d <\/b><\/span>said Senator Fetterman. \u201cI\u2019m proud to introduce this bill to provide communities\u2014especially our smaller towns\u2014with the resources and guidance they need to make their streets safer.\u201d<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

On-street fatalities have reached the highest level in 41 years, and they increased during the pandemic despite an overall decrease in driving. Older residents, children, people with disabilities, those living on reservations, and people of color are all more likely to be hit in preventable incidents. Pennsylvania is home to some of the most unsafe streets in the nation \u2014 between 2012 and 2020, 1,426 pedestrians were killed on Pennsylvania streets. Experts have dubbed State Street in Harrisburg the \u201cdeadliest road in America.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Unsafe, poorly designed streets are also a significant barrier to economic revitalization, particularly in smaller cities and towns. Land values increase with better street infrastructure, and retail tenant occupancy improves with safety.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Building Safer Streets Act <\/i>would bring street design standards into the 21st century and make way for innovative, <\/span>locally-sensitive<\/span> street designs and improvements by providing government agencies from the federal to local level with resources to remove red tape and make streets safer. It will also adjust street safety-focused grants (Safe Streets for All) so that the money reaches small communities.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Building Safer Streets Act <\/i>would:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n