Highway Safety Improvement Program call for projects

2026 City Safety Program - Call for projects

Open - Applications Due March 6, 2026

Available Funding

$30 million of federal Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) funds.

Program Purpose

The purpose of this program is to reduce fatal and serious injury crashes on city streets using engineering improvements/countermeasures. Learn more about the Highway Safety Improvement Program.

Eligibility

• HSIP Federal Funding: Cities and Towns in Washington State that have experienced fatal or serious injury crashes during the past 5 years with complete crash history (2020-2024) are eligible to apply. Tribal agencies may apply for funding for projects that are within incorporated cities that have experienced fatal or serious injury crashes from 2020 to 2024. Other agencies and organizations may work with a city to propose and develop a project to be funded through HSIP.
• Preliminary engineering, right-of-way, and construction phases of projects are eligible for HSIP funding. Design-only projects that include only preliminary engineering, environmental, and/or right-of-way phases are not eligible.
• Maintenance, enforcement, and education activities are not eligible.
• Applying agencies must submit a local road safety plan that addresses fatal and serious injury crashes in the city to be eligible to apply. Local road safety plans are a Proven Safety Countermeasure that provides a systemic data-driven analysis and prioritization of an agency's traffic safety needs. Using information about the safety risk factors present at specific crash locations, the city must identify locations where those risk factors are present systemically. They then must identify and prioritize improvements, countermeasures, and projects to address the highest priority locations. This prioritized list of projects must be presented in the local road safety plan, which must be submitted with the application. The local road safety plan must document how and why the priorities were selected. Local agency Vision Zero Plans and Comprehensive Safety Action Plans will meet this requirement assuming they were developed using a systemic safety analysis and prioritization process as described above.
• Safety data collection projects are eligible for funding. Data collection projects are intended to improve a jurisdiction’s local road safety plan/systemic safety analysis.

Systemic and spot location projects are eligible for HSIP funding.

Systemic Projects: Systemic safety projects include widely implemented improvements based on a risk-based safety analysis. Applying agencies must use 2020-2024 crash data and a systemic safety planning process to identify and prioritize projects to address the highest priority locations. This prioritized list of projects must be reflected in the local road safety plan. Projects can be proposed on both city streets and/or on state highways managed by cities with populations over 30,000.

Spot Location Projects: Projects must address one or more specific fatal and/or serious injury crashes from 2020-2024 (the most recent, complete years of crash data available). Spot locations must also be identified in the applying agency’s local road safety plan. Spot location projects must be at a specific intersection, mid-block location, or corridor on:

• City street in a city or town of any population.
• State highway that a city with a population above 30,000 maintains.
• State highway in a city or town with a population of 30,000 or less when there is interest from the WSDOT region in partnering to co-fund the project.

Additional Considerations

• Applying agencies should consider integrating the principles of the Safe System Approach (PDF 30.1MB) into their safety planning and project development process. The Safe System Approach establishes a holistic and comprehensive guiding framework to make roadways safer for people. This includes designing and operating roadways to mitigate human mistakes and account for injury tolerances, set safe speeds, encourage safer behaviors, and facilitate safe travel by the most vulnerable users.
• Cities should consider including projects related to smaller jurisdictions or tribes with interconnected roadways in their applications.
• When upgrading an intersection's control type from traffic signs, the city must evaluate a roundabout and provide justification if a roundabout is not selected.

Crash Data Summary

Local Programs provides each eligible city with a crash data summary. The summary shows information about the fatal, serious injury, and total crashes for the city. It also shows how the city compares with other cities in the state. The summary does not include detailed crash data. Detailed crash data can be requested through WSDOT Crash Data and reporting office using this form (PDF 1.48MB).

• Projects are eligible for 100% federal HSIP funding for all phases authorized prior to April 30, 2029. Any phases not authorized by this date may be subject to the remaining funds being rescinded.
• Projects must be fully funded between this funding and other funding sources, as applicable.
• Only one application per city may be submitted. All projects included in the application must be presented in priority order.
• There is no maximum funding level for the application.
• Projects must comply with all necessary federal and state requirements as detailed in the Local Agency Guidelines Manual.
• Projects must be completed as selected once they have been awarded funding.
• Recipients must report biannually on the status and expenditures of each project.
• Recipients are required to submit monthly progress billings for projects to ensure timely reimbursement of eligible federal expenditures.
• Costs incurred prior to federal fund obligation are not eligible for reimbursement.
• Projects that are not actively pursued or that become inactive (23 CFR 630) are at risk of being cancelled and the funding rescinded.
• All projects must be ADA compliant upon completion or federal funds must be repaid.

Trainings Available

City Safety Program webinars are available to help applying agencies throughout the program application process:

Module 1: Local Road Safety Plans + Open Q&A Session – November 12, 2025 (GoToWebinar) 9:00am to 11:00am. Register: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/788505318762046813

Module 2: Effective Safety Countermeasures and Project Development + Open Q&A Session – December 10, 2025 (GoToWebinar) 9:00am to 11:00am. Register: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3165528511734852700

Module 3: Application Completeness and Project Delivery Considerations + Open Q&A Session – January 14, 2026 (GoToWebinar) 9:00am to 11:00am. Register: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8081413113684207706

Selection Process

• All properly submitted applications will be reviewed to ensure they are complete and eligible for funding.
• All projects will be prioritized based on effectiveness of addressing systemic safety risk factors identified in the agency’s local road safety plan and the anticipated cost effectiveness of the proposed work in reducing fatal and serious injury crashes in support of Target Zero.
• WSDOT may conduct site visits with the applicant, as needed.
• WSDOT’s Local Programs Director will select the final City Safety projects by August 2026.

Application Form

A completed application form (DOCX 45KB) is required. Applications must include:

• A local road safety plan for the city applying for funding. The information in the application must be consistent with the agency local road safety plan.
• A vicinity map showing the location of all improvements and countermeasures for each project.
• A conceptual plan and cross section showing the existing and final configurations for projects that add or revise travel lanes or sidewalks.
• A detailed cost estimate for each phase (preliminary engineering, right of way, and construction). The cost estimate for construction must assume that the project is design-bid-build or design-build and not constructed by the agency's forces.
• Project delivery performance: Agencies must provide status updates on all active projects awarded funding through the City Safety Program and federal Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) for your agency, including City Safety Program, County Safety Program, Section 130 Rail-Highway Crossing Safety Program, and federally allocated Safe Routes to School, as applicable.

Application forms and the above requirements must be submitted electronically by 11:59 p.m. on Friday, March 6, 2026, via email to HLPGrants@wsdot.wa.gov. Applications received after the deadline will not be considered.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Information 

This material can be made available in an alternate format by emailing the Office of Equity and Civil Rights at wsdotada@wsdot.wa.gov or by calling toll free, 855-362-4ADA (4232). Persons who are deaf or hard of hearing may make a request by calling the Washington State Relay at 711.

Title VI Notice to Public 

It is the Washington State Department of Transportation’s (WSDOT) policy to assure that no person shall, on the grounds of race, color, national origin, as provided by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be otherwise discriminated against under any of its programs and activities. Any person who believes his/her Title VI protection has been violated, may file a complaint with WSDOT’s Office of Equity and Civil Rights (OECR). For additional information regarding Title VI complaint procedures and/or information regarding our non-discrimination obligations, please contact OECR’s Title VI Coordinator at (360) 705-7090.