The City of Davenport has been awarded $6 million in federal funding to improve safety at three high-crash intersections using nationally recognized traffic safety strategies.
That funding, announced last week, will be used to create roundabouts at two busy intersections in Davenport – Kimberly Road (U.S. 6) and Fairmount Street; and West 65th Street and North Brady Frontage Road.
The funding comes from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) Grant Program.
Davenport applied for the SS4A grant in the summer of 2025. Nationwide, the U.S. DOT awarded $982 million to 521 projects across 48 states.
The federal grant will cover 80% of Davenport’s total project costs, with the city contributing $1.5 million, Davenport leaders announced Friday, Jan. 9, in a news release.
The selected intersections were identified as priorities in the adopted Quad Cities, Kewanee & Muscatine Traffic Safety Action Plan and through collaborative safety studies involving the City of Davenport, the Iowa DOT, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and independent engineering firms. The recommendations reduce conflict points, slow vehicle speeds, and improve visibility and crossing conditions for pedestrians, the release said.
“The selected projects reflect locations where targeted design changes can make a meaningful difference,” said Clay Merritt, the city’s director of Engineering and Capital Projects. “The goal is to improve safety while maintaining efficient traffic operations.”
Construction timelines will be announced as design work progresses.
The three projects include:
- Kimberly Road (U.S. 6) and Fairmount Street: The city will convert this four-way signal intersection into a roundabout as recommended by a road safety assessment involving the Iowa DOT and FHWA. Statistics show roundabouts cut serious crashes by up to 78%. Between 2018 and 2022, crashes in this Davenport area killed two people and seriously injured four people.
- Brady Street (U.S. 61) at Veterans Memorial Parkway and 65th Street: Planned upgrades include new dual left-turn lanes in both eastbound and westbound directions as well as improved pedestrian crossings. From 2018 to 2022, this location experienced two fatalities and one serious injury.
- West 65th Street and North Brady Frontage Road: A single-lane roundabout will be constructed at this T-intersection near Kwik Star and Menard’s. The improvement was also recommended through an Iowa DOT-funded traffic safety study conducted by a third-party engineering firm.
