Seattle will get $25.6 million for safer streets

Seattle is slated to receive $25.6 million of the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law to build safer sidewalks, bike lanes and intersections, primarily in the city's SoDo neighborhood.

Driving the news: The Safe Streets and Roads for All grants, which are intended to help local governments reduce roadway and roadside crashes and fatalities, were announced Jan. 30 by the office of Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.).

• The city plans to focus on intersections south of downtown where the highest number of serious or fatal pedestrian and bicycle accidents occur. In the last three years alone, nearly 20 people have been killed in SoDo, The Seattle Times reported.
• In its grant proposal, the city had asked for money to make a host of improvements, including protected bike lanes, new sidewalks and a combination of measures to reduce vehicle speeds and enhance safety, according to Seattle Bike Blog.

By the numbers: The grant money has been earmarked for:

• 4 miles of protected bike lanes.
• 1.5 miles of new sidewalks.
• 4.5 miles of speed-reducing changes like speed bumps and strategic road narrowing.
• 117 intersection updates, including new signage, curb improvements and pavement markings.

What they're saying: "From calming traffic on high-crash streets to helping families safely walk and bike to school, we must do everything we can to reverse the heartbreaking trend of people being injured on our streets," Mayor Bruce Harrell said in a written statement.

The big picture: Cantwell said that overall, Washington will receive about $7.6 billion from the infrastructure law.