City of Gilroy officials are working with a consultant to complete a citywide roadway safety plan that aims to reduce traffic-related injuries and deaths—and attract more funding from outside sources for transportation and pedestrian infrastructure improvements.
The City Council on Aug. 3 approved a contract with Kimley-Horn to develop a Comprehensive Roadway Safety Action Plan (CSAP).
The cost of the contract is $237,117, most of which is funded by a federal grant from the Safe Streets and Roads for All program. The city’s gas tax fund will contribute about $47,400 to the cost of the Kimley-Horn contract.
The year-long planning process will include an online survey, public workshops and outreach at community events, city staff said. An emphasis will be on input from at-risk and underrepresented community members.
The plan will use this collected data and feedback to identify locations and intersections with the most need for safety upgrades—as well as factors that contribute to serious crashes—and recommend prioritized improvement projects to help reduce traffic deaths and serious injuries, according to city staff.
Specifically, the CSAP will study the most recent crash data in Gilroy to assist the city in identifying needs and unsafe conditions.
The contract comes at a time when crashes resulting in serious injuries and deaths are on the rise in Gilroy. From 2021-25, there were 82 crashes throughout Gilroy with serious injuries or deaths. Six of those were fatalities.
In 2025, there were eight crashes with serious injuries and one with a fatality. Since Jan. 2, 2026, there have been at least five crashes with fatalities, city staff said.
Two of the fatalities this year were Andrew and Stacia Stuart, who died after they were hit by a vehicle in a crosswalk near Las Animas Elementary School on Jan. 16.
Since that collision, the city and Gilroy Unified School District have reacted with other road safety improvements. The City Council earlier this year approved a change to local ordinances to allow speed limits in school zones to be reduced from 25 mph to as low as 15 mph.
A completed CSAP will also place Gilroy in a better position to receive safety and construction funding from state and federal grant programs.
“Adoption of the plan is critical to the city being eligible to apply for and receive most federal and state transportation-related grants,” says a city staff report. “These grants provide the city the opportunity to leverage its limited general and special funds to complete needed transportation-related capital projects.”
Grant funding for the Kimley-Horn CSAP contract totals about $190,000 from the 2024 Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) program.
Potential grant fund sources that the city could benefit from with a completed CSAP are the Highway Safety Improvement Program, Active Transportation Program and One Bay Area Grant Program.
The city currently has four pending grant applications that require Gilroy to have a CSAP adopted before any funds can be awarded, according to city staff.
