The Town of Lexington has received a $160,000 grant from the Federal Highway Administration to further efforts in minimizing traffic deaths and injuries.

According to a resolution passed during the Dec. 2 town council meeting, the town will combine this grant with $40,000 in local matching funds from the streets and infrastructure budget. This money will go towards developing a “safety action plan.”

This grant, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation, is part of the Safe Streets and Roads for All program that “is helping local communities design and deliver comprehensive roadway safety plans and improvements that will save lives and prevent serious injuries on the Nation’s streets and roads.”

This was made possible by a 2021 bipartisan law that brought $5 billion over five fiscal years to communities across the country.

The town’s goal is to “reduce speeding, reduce collisions, and move the Town towards zero fatalities and serious injuries” by 2035, according to the resolution.

Everyone on council voted in favor of the resolution except for Councilman Will Allen.

“I have some considerable heartburn with the Federal legalese in this,” he said during the Dec. 2 meeting. “So for that reason, I won’t be able to vote for this. Having said that, I’m not suggesting that I’m not for zero fatalities on the roadways.”

The Chronicle was unable to reach Allen for further comment.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data, according to the resolution, details 1,094 crash-related deaths on South Carolina roadways including 172 pedestrians and 25 cyclists in 2022. The resolution also details 5,676 crashes reported in the Town of Lexington’s jurisdictional area with three crashes resulting in a fatality and 17% of crashes resulting in injury between January 2019 and December 2023.