Murfreesboro won $8.28 million in federal Safe Streets money for signal upgrades and Saint Andrews Drive traffic calming. Here are the six projects.
Murfreesboro will get $8,282,947 in federal money for six road safety projects. The city announced the award from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Safe Streets and Roads for All program on Wednesday, Nov. 4, in a City of Murfreesboro news release.
The city adds about $2 million of its own. The release puts the total at $10,353,685.
“Every one of these improvements is focused on preventing tragedies before they happen,” Mayor Shane McFarland said in the release.
The six projects
The city said the money will go to corridors on its high-injury roadway network, as named in its adopted Safety Action Plan. The projects are:
- traffic signal safety upgrades at key intersections
- traffic calming along 2.8 miles of Saint Andrews Drive
- a pedestrian hybrid beacon on Veterans Parkway near Barfield Crescent Park
- a citywide road safety public outreach campaign
- a Pavement Management Plan that takes road safety into account
- a near-miss demonstration project at signalized intersections near Middle Tennessee State University, plus better post-crash care, including blood supply improvements for the Murfreesboro Fire Rescue Department
A pedestrian hybrid beacon is a signal that stays dark until someone presses the button to cross. It then stops traffic with red lights.
Of the federal total, $8,216,591 is implementation money for the projects themselves. The other $66,356 pays for extra planning and the demonstration work.
What the work looks like
The city said the upgrades will use Federal Highway Administration “proven safety countermeasures.” The release lists:
- flashing yellow arrows
- retroreflective backplates on signals, which make them easier to see at night
- better roadway lighting and vehicle detection
- pedestrian accessibility improvements
- speed management along whole corridors
The near-miss project will run at four signalized intersections near MTSU. Cameras will track close calls between vehicles and pedestrians. City staff will then use the results to make low-cost fixes before a serious crash happens. The release does not name the four intersections.
The crash numbers behind it
The figures come from the city’s grant application, as quoted in the release. Murfreesboro recorded 26,023 crashes from 2020 to 2024. Of those, 38 were fatal crashes and 331 caused serious injuries.
Eighty signalized intersections on the chosen high-injury corridors accounted for 5,582 of those crashes. That includes nine fatal crashes and 65 serious-injury crashes.
Put another way, those 80 intersections saw about 21% of all crashes in the city. They saw about 24% of fatal crashes and about 20% of serious-injury crashes.
When work could start
Not yet. The city must first negotiate and sign a grant agreement with the Federal Highway Administration. Under federal rules, nothing the city spends before that agreement is signed can be reimbursed or counted toward its local match. The release gives no start dates for any of the six projects.
Jim Kerr, the city’s executive director of public infrastructure, oversees major road projects. The city promoted him from director of transportation in August.
The city also posted a video about its Safety Action Plan, which residents helped shape by naming streets they worried about.
What it means for you
- Saint Andrews Drive drivers: expect traffic calming along 2.8 miles once design is done. The city has not said what form it will take.
- Barfield Crescent Park visitors: walkers crossing Veterans Parkway near the park are due a push-button signal.
- Drivers at busy signals: more flashing yellow arrows, brighter signal backplates and better lighting at intersections on the high-injury network.
- Near MTSU: cameras will watch for near misses at four signalized intersections. The city describes it as a safety study.
We will add the start dates when the city publishes them. Current lane closures and road work are on our Murfreesboro road construction and closures page.
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