A year after being put on hold, CBJ again seeking public input on Safe Streets 4 All projects

Open houses scheduled Monday through Wednesday as part of planning process for federal funds that were paused by Trump administration last year

An interactive map shows a location specified in a public comment submitted as part of the City and Borough of Juneau’s "Safe Streets 4 All" planning process. (City and Borough of Juneau image)

By Mark Sabbatini

Juneau Independent

Three open houses seeking public input on local "Safe Streets 4 All" projects are scheduled beginning Monday, with city officials saying the federal funding is indeed available after similar workshops last year were cancelled when the money was frozen by the Trump administration.

Safe Streets 4 All (SS4A) projects are intended to improve safety for "pedestrians, bicyclists, and public transportation users, motorists, personal conveyance and micro mobility users, and commercial vehicle operators," according to a City and Borough of Juneau notice about the open houses.

CBJ received $366,000 in planning grants from the U.S. Federal Highways Administration in 2024, but open houses scheduled in February of 2025 were cancelled because, according to a statement at the time, “funding for all federal grant programs is currently under review by the new administration.”

That is no longer the case, stated Ashley Heimbigner, a CBJ spokesperson who was the grants manager when they were awarded, in an email to the Juneau Independent on Monday

"CBJ paused efforts, including the cancelation of the previously scheduled open house, as a precautionary measure during the uncertainty surrounding the temporary pause and funding review in early 2025," she wrote. "CBJ was later notified by FHWA that our SS4A grants would not be impacted as they were fully executed prior to the freeze."

Furthermore, CBJ received SS4A grant funding during the previous two fiscal years and "both of these planning grant awards were fully executed by the US Department of Transportation Federal Highways Administration by the fall of 2024," Heimbigner wrote.

Some other local projects receiving federal funding remain in limbo, including a Lemon Creek multimodal path that project got $653,520 from the Biden-era Neighborhood Access and Equity Program, which Trump has rescinded $2.4 billion in funding for. Heimbigner said that program is not affiliated with the SS4A funds.

This year’s SS4A open houses are scheduled at 5 p.m. Monday at the Dzantik’i Heeni campus commons area, 5 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, and 5 p.m. Wednesday at the Mendenhall Valley Public Library.

Public comments can also be submitted online and an interactive map of comments received is available at CBJ’s website.

A nine-page "Public Involvement Plan" published in January 2025 details the process and participants in the assessment of what projects will receive grant funding, without specifying any projects themselves.

"CBJ will utilize SS4A funding to conduct a full road safety analysis, taking inventory of all previous crashes, historical trends, conditions, severity of injuries, community and partner input and other factors across the entire jurisdiction," the plan states. "The safety analysis will produce a list of projects prioritized by these data points to guide the implementation of the Comprehensive Safety Action Plan (CSAP). Analysis conducted will generate per-intersection crash rates and other metrics useful for ensuring a need-based, evidenced-based CSAP. Each project will include recommended proven safety countermeasures addressing the circumstances of previous crashes. CBJ expects recommendations will include low-cost, high-impact solutions related to visibility enhancements, roadway departure countermeasures, and more."

• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.