State Aid for Local Transportation

Traffic safety education and resources

Overview

In the early 2010s, State Aid and the Office of Traffic Engineering launched a traffic safety education and outreach initiative, leading to the development of County Roadway Safety Plans (CRSP). This initiative enabled counties to access federal and state safety funds for implementing effective safety strategies, significantly reducing fatal and serious injury crashes on Minnesota roads. Education, a key component of the Towards Zero Deaths (TZD) program, plays a crucial role in fostering a culture of traffic safety. However, a decade has passed since the initial outreach, resulting in significant turnover among city and county engineers and a potential knowledge gap in safety planning.

Currently, approximately 70 percent of fatal and serious injury crashes occur on local roadways, with a troubling increase since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. To address this, a new set of local road traffic safety workshops was developed in 2024, incorporating gaps from city, county, FHWA, and MnDOT staff. These workshops aim to fill knowledge gaps by providing education on updated crash data, traffic safety countermeasures, funding opportunities, and public engagement strategies.

As noted by Ted Schoenecker, MnDOT State Aid, Assistant Division Director, “It takes effort and intention on the part of all of us to achieve Minnesota’s goal of zero fatalities. Local agencies play a critical role in this effort, and we are asking each of you to be a safety champion.”

Traffic safety webinars

Upcoming

• Rural Intersections Safety Countermeasures
  • Wednesday, June 17 at 10 a.m. - Noon
  • Overview: Rural intersections experience a disproportionate number of fatal and serious injury crashes due to high speeds, limited sight distance, and fewer visual cues, making them among the most dangerous locations on our roadway system. This webinar will showcase proven, cost‑effective, and locally led strategies to improve rural intersection safety and advance a Safe System Approach by helping prevent severe crashes before they occur.
  • Registration: https://bit.ly/MnDOT-RuralIntersections
• Coming soon
  • Urban intersections
  • Horizontal curves
  • Urban segments (speed management)

Past

• Vulnerable Road User (VRU) safety countermeasures (2026)
  • Video recording of the webinar (YouTube)
  • Presentation slides (PDF)
  • Summary and resources (PDF)
  • Extended strategies summary matrix (PDF)
• Lane departure crashes and safety measures (2025)
  • Video recording of the webinar (YouTube)
  • Presentation slides (PDF)
  • Summary of resources (PDF)

Workshop materials (2024-2025)

• Crash data presentations
  • ATP 1 (PDF) I ATP 2 (PDF) I ATP 3 (PDF) I ATP 4 (PDF) IATP 6 (PDF) I ATP 7 (PDF) I ATP 8 (PDF) I ATP Metro (PDF)
• Safe system approach (PDF)
• Big book of ideas
  • History lesson (PDF)
  • Greater Minnesota (PDF)
  • Metro (PDF)
  • Videos
    • History lesson (YouTube)
    • Rural countermeasures (YouTube)
    • Urban countermeasures (YouTube)
      
• Funding (PDF)
• HSIP - Greater Minnesota (PDF)
• Communicating traffic safety (PDF)
• Workshop summaries by ATP
  • ATP 1 (PDF) I ATP 2 (PDF) I ATP 3 (PDF) I ATP 4 (PDF) IATP 6 (PDF) I ATP 7 (PDF) I ATP 8 (PDF) I ATP Metro (PDF)

Crash data summaries

• Statewide (ZIP)
• By ATP
  • ATP 1 (ZIP) I ATP 2 (ZIP) I ATP 3 (ZIP) I ATP 4 (ZIP) I ATP 6 (ZIP) I ATP 7 (ZIP) I ATP 8 (ZIP) I ATP Metro (ZIP)
• City/county*
  • Examples
    • City of Duluth (ZIP)
    • Olmsted County (ZIP)

*An extensive crash analysis has also been conducted for each city and county by district, with summary data and workshop materials available for review. Contact Girma Feyissa at girma.feyissa@state.mn.us to request a copy.