Richland County Safety Action Plan
Richland County Safety Action Plan Logo with symbols of a person walking, a person bicycling, and a motor vehicle.
Help Create Safer Roads in Richland County
Richland County is creating a Safety Action Plan to reduce traffic deaths and serious injuries along roadways. The plan will identify safety concerns and recommend improvements for all roadway users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists.
We need your feedback to help make travel in Richland County safer for all Richland County residents and visitors. You can send your comments and survey responses at future public meetings or through the Online Interactive Map.
Add Your Comments and Take the Survey
Please share your input by November 20, 2026 to be included in the Safety Action Plan. If you have any questions or comments about the project, or need assistance providing comments or survey responses, please contact Sahad Khilqa at KHILQA.SAHAD@richlandcountysc.gov or 803-576-3576.
Project Overview
From 2020 through 2024, Richland County had 302 fatal crashes, including 83 fatalities involving a pedestrian. Additionally, 203 fatal crashes happened at night, which shows the need for lighting and visibility improvements for drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists. The number of pedestrian deaths show the need for sidewalks, bicycle facilities, safe routes to schools, and ADA-accessible walkways throughout the County. To improve safety, Richland County received a Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) grant to create a Comprehensive Safety Action Plan. The plan will focus on traffic safety and guide projects that can help prevent deaths on roadways. The County will work with the community, local groups, and SCDOT to address the needs of the people and make the transportation system safer.
The Richland County Safety Action Plan began in April 2026 and is expected to finish by February 2027. First, the project team will review of plans, policies, crash data, and project goals followed by a 1st round of engagement with stakeholders and the public. Next, strategies and recommendations are developed and presented in a 2nd round of engagement. Finally, a plan is developed and adopted by Richland County to apply for future funding.
What is a Safety Action Plan (SAP)?
The SAP presents Richland County’s goal for safe, convenient, and equitable travel for all residents and visitors. The plan will guide future spending on safety improvements that prevent injuries and save lives on public roadways. The SAP’s development is supported by the Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) initiative, which is a grant program created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). The SAP will enable Richland County to seek implementation grant funding through SS4A. Using the Federal Highway Administration’s Safe System Approach to support Vision Zero, which is a goal of having no deaths on roadways, the SAP will identify Richland County’s most significant roadway safety problems and recommend strategies to reduce deadly and serious injury crashes. Whether you walk, bike, drive, or use transit, your feedback will help make travel safer for all Richland County residents and visitors.
What Will the Safety Action Plan Do?
Richland County is creating a Comprehensive Safety Action Plan (SAP) to make daily travel safer and more comfortable for everyone. This includes people who walk, bike, drive, take transit, or use mobility aids. Funded through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) program, this plan will:
- Study crash data and community comments to find safety concerns and high-risk locations.
- Develop equitable, data-driven strategies to improve safety for all road users.
- Recommend proven safety improvements, such as safer crossings, slower traffic, better lighting, and better connections to schools, neighborhoods, and businesses.
- Align with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Roadway Safety Strategy and the goal of ending traffic deaths and serious injuries through the Safe Systems Approach.
- Help the County focus on high-need locations and compete for federal funding to build the most important safety projects.
About the Safe Streets for All Program
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Safe Streets and Roads for All Program was established under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) as a funding program available from 2022 through 2026. The program gives grants to regional, local, and Tribal initiatives to prevent roadway deaths and serious injuries. The program supports the USDOT National Roadway Safety Strategy and the goal of zero roadway deaths using a Safe System Approach.
The Safe System Approach diagram has five parts: safer people, safer vehicles, safer speeds, safer roads, and post-crash care. The diagram also states the following six ideas: deaths and serious injuries are unacceptable, people make mistakes, people are vulnerable, responsibility is shared, safety is proactive, and redundancy is important.
Working Together for Safe Streets
The City of Columbia has also received an SS4A grant. City of Columbia and Richland County staff are working together to match goals, share data, and make transportation safer. Learn more about the City of Columbia’s Safety Action Plan at the City of Columbia’s plan website.
What Happens Next?
The project team will use public comments to help choose high-crash and high-risk places in Richland County for safety improvements. Once the recommended improvements have been chosen, a second round of public engagement will take place to share and receive additional feedback.