Bellingham Receives Federal Grant to Upgrade Emergency Traffic Signals

The city of Bellingham, Washington, will receive nearly 2.8 million dollars in federal funding to improve emergency vehicle response times, My Bellingham Now reported. The 2.76 million dollar grant is provided through the United States Department of Transportation Safe Streets for All program. [1]

According to My Bellingham Now, the federal funding aims to reduce roadway deaths and serious injuries by modernizing the city traffic signal system. The technology will use global positioning system tools to give emergency vehicles priority and preemption at intersections, allowing first responders to travel through the city more safely and quickly while reducing overall traffic conflicts. [1]

As HEROIC BREAKING NEWS reported earlier, federal programs have recently awarded similar grants to bolster emergency services across other states. Four Oregon public agencies secured 16 million dollars in federal transportation funding for road safety and emergency response projects, while four fire departments in Central Texas received over 1.1 million dollars from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to upgrade equipment. [2][3]