To significantly reduce or eliminate all fatal and serious injury crashes, Van Buren Township developed a comprehensive Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) Safety Action Plan utilizing the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Local Road Safety Plans approach. Leveraging a $384,500 SS4A grant from the US Department of Transportation, the Township worked with Wade Trim to develop its SS4A Action Plan that builds upon their previous efforts to improve road network safety for all users. The ultimate goal of the federal SS4A program is to achieve zero avoidable transportation system fatalities or serious injury accidents within a community.

Adopted in 2025, the Township’s SS4A Action Plan identifies strategies and projects intended to halve the number of fatalities and serious injury accidents by 2035. Some effective features incorporated into the plan included enhanced crosswalks, dedicated non-motorized paths, self-enforcing roadway designs, and recommendations for additional near- and long-term studies. Grant sources and strategies for securing them to implement improvements were also identified.

Five high-priority projects were identified on Ecorse, Haggerty, and Belleville Roads, as having the most severe crashes that are correctable by geometric mitigation and therefore expected to produce the largest return in safety benefits. These projects are recommended to advance through the next step in the SS4A process to secure future funding. Community engagement efforts assisted the DDA and Township in facilitating stakeholder and public involvement, which is a key component of demonstrating community buy-in for future grant applications.