$984K In State Funds Awarded To Summit To Improve Pedestrian Safety

SUMMIT, NJ — In an effort to fund local pedestrian and bicycle safety improvements, the state has awarded a total of $25 million in grants to 45 municipalities, and Summit was one of them.

Summit received $484K to improve access to transit facilities and public transportation, as well as another $500K to promote biking in the city. Gov. Phil Murphy announced these grant awards on Monday in Dover, according to NJ.com.

The $25 million in state grants will go toward three separate programs — $13.4 million to improve access to transportation, $8.4 million for the Local Bikeway Program and $2.9 million to revitalize areas around transit facilities into mixed use-neighborhoods.

This grant money increased since last year's grant total, which was $18.6 million.

So far this year, 178 pedestrians and 16 cyclists have been killed in the type of traffic collisions that projects funded by these grants intend to correct.

Numerous pedestrian accidents have occurred in Summit this past year. In just the week of Nov. 7, three pedestrians — two of whom were elderly — were struck by cars and suffered injuries.

Mayor Nora Radest said she would be working closely with the Traffic Safety Unit and the communications office to "implement increased enforcement measures and to emphasize traffic safety education targeted to drivers of vehicles and bicycles and pedestrians."

Read more: Pedestrian Accidents Are 'Extremely Concerning', Says Summit Mayor

The Smart Growth America "Dangerous by Design" report, which was released earlier this year ranked New Jersey as the 19th worst state for pedestrian safety.

Murphy also announced that more funds were allocated for local aid grants to municipalities and counties in the state’s fiscal year 2023 budget than in the previous budget. He said the state grants will spare local property taxpayers from the cost of funding those improvements, according to NJ.com.

You can see the full list of towns that received grant money to improve pedestrian and biking safety here.

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