Ivey awards $7M in highway safety grants
(The Center Square) – Alabama is making a $7 million investment in highway safety, Gov. Kay Ivey said.
In a news release, the governor highlighted efforts to support highway safety by making roads safer by preventing injuries and fatalities and ensuring prosecution against those committing highway traffic offenses.
Funds will be dispersed by the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
“In Alabama, we are funding our law enforcement community to ensure their efforts to protect our communities are supported,” Ivey said in the release. “These grants will go a long way in reinforcing highway safety across our state. As we head into another peak travel time, that will be even more important. Ensuring public safety is one of the primary responsibilities of government and is a top priority for the Ivey administration.”
According to the release, regional traffic safety offices, along with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, will use funds to cover overtime expenses for police officers, sheriffs’ deputies and state troopers who conducted extra patrols and checkpoints. The funding will aid the “Click It or Ticket” and “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” initiatives.
According to the release, $1.39 million will go to the Franklin County Commission for the North Central Alabama Highway Safety Office, $1.66 million will go to the city of Opelika and the East Central Alabama Highway Safety Office, and $1.21 million will go to the Southeast Alabama Regional Highway Safety Office.
A total of $957,369 will be distributed to the Mobile County Commission for the Southwest Regional Safety Office, and $1.54 million to the state’s law enforcement agency to cover overtime for state troopers who worked extra shifts and in locations that have high numbers of speeding and impaired driving offenses. The Office of Prosecution Services will be awarded $183,106 to provide local prosecutors and law enforcement with a veteran statewide prosecutor to provide training, education, and legal research on traffic safety issues.
“ADECA stands with Governor Ivey, the four highway safety offices and local law enforcement agencies who are helping make Alabama’s roads safer for everyone traveling in our state,” said ADECA Director Kenneth Boswell in the release.
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