The Trump administration recently revoked a road safety grant for a block of Campo Road in East County, saying the project was "hostile to motor vehicles."
San Diego County was awarded the $1.165 million grant last year under the Safe Streets and Roads for All program, which was established by the bipartisan infrastructure law approved by Congress in 2021. The project would have narrowed Campo Road from five lanes to two, adding a median, bike lanes and a temporary roundabout.
But Maria Lefevre, an official with the Department of Transportation (DOT), sent the county a letter last month stating the project did not reflect the Trump administration's "priority of preserving or increasing roadway capacity for motor vehicles."
KPBS reached out to DOT for comment but did not receive a response.
"Disappointed, I think, is the politest thing that I can say," said Lisa Stewart, president of the nonprofit Casa de Oro Alliance, which supported the project. "We could have learned a lot and proven that roundabouts and traffic calming actually does help make it safer — for not only pedestrians, but for all drivers."
Campo Road is currently dotted with strip malls and drive-thrus. The sidewalks are narrow and interrupted with dozens of driveways, creating conflict zones between drivers and pedestrians.
Stewart said it's an unpleasant place to walk, and that the redesign would have both improved safety and fostered more community building.
"Community is bringing people together, community is people can walk together and talk together and hang out together," Stewart said. "And really what we have here right now is a 'drive through' destination, not a 'drive to' destination."
County spokesperson Donna Durckel said the county would have contributed $290,000 in local matching dollars for a total budget of $1.45 million, and that the project cannot move forward without replacement funding.
"Moving forward, the County of San Diego remains committed to pursuing alternative funding sources to implement additional safety enhancement projects throughout the region," Durckel said.
The Trump administration has been canceling hundreds of road safety grants with the same explanation of the projects being "hostile to motor vehicles," said Corrigan Salerno, policy manager at the Washington D.C.-based think tank Transportation for America.
Salerno said the wider roads sought by the Trump administration encourage faster driving, which in turn can lead to more serious collisions.
"It's very well documented both in research and also by basic physics, the faster a car goes, when it hits somebody or something, the more energy is exchanged and the more likely people are to be killed or injured," Salerno said. "Really this is just a brand new front for the whole culture war around road safety."
