Laredo, TX– Today, Congressman Henry Cuellar (TX-28) announced that the Webb County-City of Laredo Regional Mobility Authority (WC-CL RMA) will be receiving $1,600,000 in federal funding to help ensure safe streets and roads for the residents of Webb County. This federal funding will enable the community to develop a plan of action to significantly improve pedestrian, cyclist, motorcyclist and vehicular safety.

“As a nation, we are experiencing a rise in deaths and injuries on our roadways—a problem that is affecting all of us regardless of age, race, gender, or socioeconomic level,” said Congressman Cuellar. “This funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will allow the WC-CL RMA to work collaboratively with city and county partners on an approach that will help save lives.  I want to thank the WC-CL RMA and Chairman Jed Brown for proactively seeking and implementing solutions to the national crisis of fatalities and serious injuries on public roads.”

 “As always, we are grateful to Congressman Cuellar for resources that help improve the infrastructure and quality of life of our community,” said Mayor of Laredo and MPO Chairman, Dr. Victor Trevino.

 “On behalf of the RMA, we are so excited that a $1.6 million grant is coming from the federal government to our community to develop an Action Plan to make the streets and highways of Laredo and Webb County safer for the traveling public. Landing a grant of this size in a competitive application process is a big deal for our community. I want to thank the general engineering consulting firm hired by the RMA.  The team at HNTB obviously did a tremendous job in writing the grant application. The RMA will work with the City of Laredo, Webb County, the MPO, TxDOT and all stakeholders to write an Action Plan with a committed goal of making our streets safer. In the future, the Action Plan will lead to a second grant application, this next time for Implementation monies,” said Jed A. Brown, WCCL RMA Chairman.

The funding will support planning and behavioral and operational initiatives to prevent death and serious injury on streets involving all roadway users—including pedestrians, bicyclists, public transportation, personal conveyance, micromobility users, motorists, and commercial vehicle operators. 

his project enjoys strong local and regional support and will address the safety priorities identified by the WC-CL RMA and the City of Laredo. The plan will build on policies and guidelines recently implemented by local stakeholders, including the Viva Laredo Comprehensive Plan, the Laredo and Webb County Area MPO’s Active Transportation Plan, and Vision Zero guidelines adopted by the City of Laredo in 2019.

The funding comes from the Safe Streets and Roads for All grant program that was created by Congress under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which Congressman Cuellar helped pass, to steer the Department of Transportation to support local initiatives to prevent death and serious injury on roads and streets. The law also directed the Department to consider other factors in addition to safety, including equitable investment in the safety needs of underserved communities.