Local Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP)

Why it matters

Program pool versus individual award

Estimated total Cycle 13 funding

$370 million across selected projects, not one award

Expected number of awards

Dependent; the portal does not publish a fixed count

Expected funding mix

$230 million federal and $140 million state

Benefit-cost-ratio pool

$306 million

Single-project reimbursement range

$100,000 minimum to $10 million maximum

Benefit-cost-ratio agency cap

$10 million across an agency's selected BCR applications

Guardrail set-aside

$22.5 million total; $1.125 million maximum per agency

Pedestrian crossing set-aside

$23.4 million total; $360,000 maximum per agency

Lane departure and bike set-asides

$7.2 million each; $360,000 maximum per agency for each

Tribal set-aside

$3.6 million total; $360,000 maximum per Tribe

Minimum HSIP reimbursement

$100,000 per project, with case-by-case exceptions in the guidelines

Maximum reimbursement ratio

100%, 90%, or 50% by countermeasure; lowest applicable ratio controls a mixed project

Funding method

Reimbursement after the agency uses its own funds and invoices Caltrans

Published selection timing

Webinar Q&A says March or April 2027; the portal lists July 1, 2027

Portal period of performance

Three to five years

Who can actually apply

• A California local public agency that owns, operates, and maintains public roadways may be eligible. The instructions identify cities, counties, federally recognized Tribes, and other local agencies that meet the criteria.
• The applying agency must have completed a Local Roadway Safety Plan or an accepted equivalent such as a Systemic Safety Analysis Report or Vision Zero Action Plan. It must be updated and validated at least every five years, and the Caltrans certification template is a required attachment.
• A finalized LRSP may support an application even if Board or Council approval is still pending at the cutoff. The instructions strongly recommend that approval, and Caltrans may request the plan itself.
• A local agency is ineligible for Cycle 13 if an existing HSIP project is red-flagged for unmet delivery requirements and the flag cannot be resolved by November 30, 2026. It is also ineligible if at least one existing HSIP project has not reached construction within five years of selection as of that date, even with an approved time extension.
• Eligible work must improve safety on a public road, publicly owned bicycle or pedestrian pathway or trail, or qualifying Tribal land. The project must identify a specific safety problem and substantially address it with eligible countermeasures that lead to completed construction and are consistent with the Strategic Highway Safety Plan.
• The guidelines are designed for projects that can be delivered promptly. A project must not require significant right-of-way acquisition, defined as more than 10% of construction cost, or extensive environmental review and mitigation. Certain large geometric improvements also require evidence of an incremental approach.
• The BCR route can include signalized intersections, non-signalized intersections, roadway segments, corridors, systemic work, or appropriate consolidated locations. It requires a calculated BCR of at least 5.0. A set-aside route must fit the exact guardrail, pedestrian crossing, lane departure, bike safety, or Tribal work described in the instructions.
• Only federally recognized California Tribes may use the Tribal set-aside. Other agency types may pursue the four non-Tribal set-asides if the project and applicant meet their specific rules.
• Work on or affecting the State Highway System needs the applicable Caltrans district support or neutral-support documentation. Joint projects and certain state-highway intersections require the additional scope, cost-share, ICE, or agreement evidence described in the instructions.

Deadline, forms, and submission sequence

1. Confirm the applicant owns, operates, and maintains the affected public roadway and clear the Cycle 13 delayed-project eligibility screen. Review the current delivery-status reports with the District Local Assistance Engineer when an existing HSIP project could trigger a red flag.
2. Complete or validate the LRSP or accepted equivalent and prepare the required Caltrans certification. Confirm that the plan is within the five-year update window and that the proposed project follows an identified safety priority.
3. Define the safety problem, project limits, affected users, current conditions, and proposed construction countermeasures. Use a data-supported basis such as crash experience, crash potential, crash rate, or another accepted method, and verify that each countermeasure addresses the identified condition.
4. Choose the BCR or one set-aside route before building the package. A BCR application needs an Analyzer result of at least 5.0. A set-aside application does not use BCR but must stay within its work, application-count, and per-agency cap. If the same project is submitted as alternatives, use the related application-ID convention and mark the alternatives as instructed.
5. Download the current dynamic application form, the correct HSIP Analyzer and manual, LRSP certification, and BCR or set-aside Engineer's Checklist from the Cycle 13 page. Save dynamic PDFs locally and open them in a supported Adobe reader rather than relying on an in-browser preview.
6. For a BCR application, enter the application identity, locations, countermeasures, the permitted three-to-five-year crash-data period, collision information, cost estimate, project phases, expected benefit, and reimbursement ratio in the BCR Analyzer. Resolve every validation error and reconcile its summary with the application form.
7. For a set-aside application, select the exact set-aside, enter the location, eligible construction items, schedule, phase costs, and reimbursement ratio in the set-aside Analyzer. Separate eligible safety work from other project costs and stay within the set-aside's per-agency limit.
8. Build the complete project cost, not only the requested reimbursement. Include preliminary engineering, right-of-way when applicable, construction, and construction engineering, and use the lowest applicable reimbursement ratio for mixed-countermeasure work. Do not treat the $10 million BCR agency cap as total project cost.
9. Prepare the required attachments: LRSP certification, responsible-charge Engineer's Checklist, vicinity map, existing and proposed project maps or plans, at least two existing-condition photos, and the completed fillable HSIP Analyzer. Add collision diagrams and lists for BCR applications and warrant, Caltrans support, ICE, cost-share, or owner documentation when applicable.
10. Make the form, Analyzer, narrative, maps, crash evidence, costs, schedule, and requested amount internally consistent. Required attachments omitted from the package and significant inconsistencies are fatal-flaw risks under the instructions. Combine files where necessary, preserve the required templates, and keep the complete application file within 500 MB.
11. Have the licensed engineer in responsible charge complete the correct checklist. Use the dynamic form's Validate and Save function, clear all mandatory-field warnings, use the required application ID as the filename, close attachment files before embedding them, and verify that the final PDF opens with its attachments intact.
12. Request one Smartsheet ticket per application through the Caltrans form. Open the automatic email, upload the completed final application form, click Submit Update, and retain the confirmation email. The official pages publish November 2 without a time zone, so submit early and ask Caltrans for the controlling clock rather than relying on a converted database timestamp.

Primary sources

• Caltrans Local HSIP Cycle 13 call for projects
• California Grants Portal HSIP record
• Cycle 13 application instructions
• Local Assistance Program Guidelines Chapter 9
• HSIP Analyzer manual for BCR applications
• HSIP Analyzer manual for set-aside applications
• Cycle 13 webinar questions and answers

Related opportunities and the next search

• Search current traffic-safety infrastructure funding

  Review current source-linked road, intersection, bicycle, pedestrian, and safety-infrastructure programs, then save a narrow alert when the visible set fits the agency plan.

• Search current highway and local-road improvement funding

  Compare eligible applicant, geography, project type, match, delivery, and deadline rather than carrying Cycle 13 rules into another program.

• Review the transportation funding guide

  Use the broader guide to separate planning, safety, transit, roadway, bridge, and other transportation funding routes and build a recurring monitoring workflow.