Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


A ceremonial check presentation was made to city leaders at a recent Saline City Council meeting to celebrate grant funding for crosswalk safety and accessibility.

SEMCOG’s Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) is a competitive program that distributes approximately $10 million in federal funding to local transportation projects each fiscal year. Eligible projects include shared-use path and sidewalk modernization, pedestrian safety improvements, new sidewalks, and complete streets amenities that increase usability.

The City of Saline received $284,313 for the project. It includes installation of pedestrian signal improvements at two crosswalks, North Ann Arbor St and Woodland Dr E., and ADA-compliant ramps at 22 crosswalks in and near the Northview neighborhood of the City of Saline.


Project highlights:

-Extension of sidewalk along US-12 West of the Saline River.

-Fills a critical gap, addressing sidewalk deficiencies identified in the city's Non-Motorized Transportation Plan, encouraging active transportation.

-Supporting walking and biking as viable modes of transportation.

-Enhancing pedestrian safety through separation from vehicular traffic and ensuring compliance with accessibility standards.

-Reducing traffic congestion by encouraging non-motorized travel and decreasing reliance on automobiles.

-Connecting key destinations by improving access to schools, parks, businesses, and residential areas.

-Improving public health by promoting active transportation modes.


Saline Senior City Engineer Tesha Humphriss said "The TAP call for projects offered an opportunity to fund safety improvements for sidewalks and ADA-compliant ramps, so we reviewed our transportation asset management plan to identify upcoming road projects. It made sense to apply for these funds to support the concrete ramp improvements planned for 2027. These federal funds help us enhance road safety and accessibility while stretching our local dollars further, and we really appreciate SEMCOG’s support.

SEMCOG Executive Director Amy O'Leary commented "TAP is one of those important funding programs that SEMCOG uses to make connections within communities so it can go for things like constructing trails, sidewalks, bike lanes, or improving safety in our downtowns. We have administered the TAP program for over 17 years, but only recently we started coming out to communities and wanting to make sure we talk about and thank our supporters, both in Washington and Lansing, who really champion a lot of these initiatives and help bring resources to our region”.

Saline Mayor Pro-Tem Nicole Rice added "Seeking out this funding really allows us to open up space for other projects, we are really excited that we received this grant and we are looking forward to moving this project forward, thank you SEMCOG very much.”

Pictured Left to right: Dan Swallow, City Manager, Saline; Tramane Halsch, City Council Member; Tesha Humphriss, Senior City Engineer, Saline; Jim Dell'Orco, City Council Member, Saline; Janet Dillon, City Council Member, Saline; Dean Girbach, City Council Member, Saline; Amy O'Leary, Executive Director, SEMCOG; Nicole Rice, Mayor Pro-Tem, Saline; Jenn Harmount, City Council Member, Saline; Morgan Foreman, Michigan State Representative, 33rd House District; Georgia Frost, Field Representative, Representative Debbie Dingell's office.