The grant builds on the county’s Safety Action Plan, completed in September 2025, which identified serious roadway safety issues in both suburban and rural areas. Designed by Freepik

 

BUTTE COUNTY, CA (MPG) - A new federal transportation safety grant is expected to bring targeted help to small communities such as Gridley and Biggs, where narrow roads, limited pedestrian access and higher than average injury rates have made every day travel more dangerous for residents.

The Butte County Board of Supervisors earlier this month approved a $2.57 million Safe Streets and Roads for All grant agreement with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration. The federally funded program supports countywide testing of affordable, effective safety strategies to reduce roadway harm, especially in rural and underserved areas.

Public Health Director Monica Soderstrom told supervisors the grant will strengthen partnerships between Public Health and local public works departments as they work on non-infrastructure safety improvements. “This grant will allow Public Health to provide data that shows how infrastructure improvements will increase safety with the aim to reduce injuries or death,” Soderstrom said.

During public comment, John Stonebraker, a member of the Paradise Recreation and Park District and an avid cyclist, spoke about past fatalities on county roads and the increasingly hazardous conditions faced by people walking and biking. He urged the county to emphasize education and encourage road users to show more care for one another.

“I think that that may play a larger role than the actual physical state of the infrastructure,” he said.

Soderstrom said 11 agencies submitted letters of support for the application, including the Butte County Association of Governments, Butte County Public Works, five municipal public works agencies and the California Highway Patrol. Staff told the board that Public Health leads the planning, data collection and community engagement, while Public Works takes over when projects advance to construction.

The grant builds on the county’s Safety Action Plan, completed in September 2025, which identified serious roadway safety issues in both suburban and rural areas. Under the new agreement, Public Health will coordinate walk audits, temporary pop-up demonstration projects such as bike lanes or crosswalk changes, and behavior change campaigns focused on safer driving, walking and biking. The work will be done in collaboration with county Public Works, city public works departments and community partners.

The grant runs through 2030 and requires the county to evaluate each demonstration project and remove temporary installations that do not show measurable safety benefits. Data gathered through the pilot projects is expected to strengthen future infrastructure funding applications for smaller jurisdictions that rely heavily on grants to complete safety upgrades.