Highway Safety Office
Grants/Training Opportunities
One of the primary functions of the Utah Highway Safety Office (UHSO) is to manage Utah’s federal highway safety grant funds for behavioral programs, and to seek and fund projects within the state to reduce traffic crashes. Each year, the Highway Safety Office compiles a Highway Safety Plan that includes a performance plan to address the traffic safety challenges by setting goals and performance measures in specific focus or program areas, and a listing of specific projects funded with the expectation they will have a positive impact on reducing traffic crashes and the resulting injuries and fatalities in Utah.
The Highway Safety Planning process in Utah tends to be cyclical and ongoing, and the Highway Safety Office (HSO) staff is likely to be working on previous, current and upcoming Highway Safety Plans (HSP) simultaneously. The planning calendar revolves around the Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) which begins each October 1st, and ends the following September 30th. This HSP cycle is best illustrated by this calendar:
January: Review of current and previous year’s HSP programs by program management staff and discuss future focus areas.
February: Analyze Utah-specific crash data and prepare the Highway Safety Office’s Performance Plan with specific performance goals.
March: Estimate federal funding amounts as part of the planning process, and solicit input from partner agencies and key stakeholders on program direction.
April: Request project proposals (due May 15) to address performance goals.
May: Review new and continuing project proposals and evaluate alignment with HSO performance goals.
June: Identify desired projects while keeping within the predicted funding levels.
July: Prepare, review, print and submit a draft Highway Safety Plan (with integral Performance Plan) to NHTSA Regional Office for input.
August: Make changes and final additions to Highway Safety Plan.
September: Submit the final Highway Safety Plan to NHTSA for approval.
October: Implement approved and funded grants and contracts.
November: Request “closeout” documents from previous year HSP projects, and begin collecting information for the Annual Report.
December: Prepare, review, print and submit the Annual Report to NHTSA.
Each year, grant proposals are welcomed and solicited from local communities, non-profit safety organizations, and local, county and state government agencies as part of this highway safety planning process. The grant proposal should address how the project will help meet the goals and performance measures in the performance plan. Proposals are requested to be submitted no later than May 15 for consideration, and assistance and consultation is available from this office.
As the HSP is finalized and after approval is received, those submitters who have had their projects included in the HSP will be notified and a project application/contract requested. Upon formal acceptance of the application/contract, the submitter is notified in writing of authorization to begin expending the grant funds.
If you are considering applying for a grant, visit the Staff page and contact the program manager in the focus area your project will address. Another great resource of information on partnering with the Highway Safety Office can be viewed here.