$4.74 million federal highway safety grant awarded to Wind River Inter-Tribal Council

The Wind River Reservation Comprehensive Safety Improvement Project/Wind River Tribes received notice this week of a successful U.S. Department of Transportation grant to implement roadway safety countermeasures on reservation roadways.

The $4.739 million grant will allow the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone Tribes "to implement low-cost, high-impact safety improvements on the Wind River Reservation and off-reservation trust land," according to Loren A. Smith, Jr., U.S. Department of Transportation deputy assistant secretary for transportation policy.

"The project will install proven safety countermeasures on three roadway segments, five curves, and 10 intersections identified in the action plan high-injury network, including overhead lighting, chevron signs, centerline and edgeline rumble strips, wider edgelines, upgraded signs and pavement markings, flashing stop signs, and one intersection conversion to a through stop," Smith said.

Between 2019 and 2023, the Wind River Reservation experienced 2,220 crashes, including 31 fatal crashes and 67 serious injury crashes. The project locations accounted for two fatal and two serious injury crashes during that period.

"On behalf of the Wind River Inter-Tribal Council's Department of Transportation (WRITC-DOT) and the Shoshone & Arapaho Public Works Authority (SAPWA), I want to say that this achievement demonstrates what can happen when our tribal governments, transportation professionals and community partners work together toward a common goal," said Shoshone & Arapaho Public Works Authority Director Winslow Friday. "We are grateful to the U.S. Department of Transportation for recognizing the needs of the Wind River Reservation and investing in our communities.
"This funding is about much more than improving roads; it is about saving lives, preventing serious accidents, and ensuring our families, children, elders, and everyone traveling across the Reservation can get to their destinations safely.

"Ultimately, this is about protecting our people," Friday said. "Every life matters, and we have a responsibility to make our transportation system safer for the next generation. This award moves us one step closer to that goal.

"Hohou (Thank you)."

"The work intends to reduce lane-departure, run-off-road, and rural intersection crashes using a Safe System Approach and FHWA Proven Safety Countermeasures," Smith said. "The applicant estimates the project will prevent 1.3 fatal crashes, 1.3 serious injury crashes, and 4.6 minor injury crashes over 20 years, with a benefit-cost ratio of 4:1."