Riverside is making a serious bet on safer streets. On May 19, 2026, the City Council authorized an application for roughly $14 million in federal transportation safety funding: about $11.2 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s 2026 Safe Streets and Roads for All grant program, plus a city match of about $2.8 million covered by Measure A revenue, gas tax funds and existing transportation fees, according to the Raincross Gazette.
The proposal covers roadway safety upgrades on Central Avenue between Fremont Street and Wilderness Avenue, plus work tied to Tyler Street, Hemet Street and the area around Ofelia Valdez-Yeager Eastside Elementary School. The package includes bike lane improvements, sidewalks and ADA ramps, upgraded traffic signals, high visibility crosswalks, audible pedestrian push buttons, raised curb medians and AI based traffic safety cameras at high collision intersections. A citywide railroad crossing pedestrian gate arm plan and Safe Routes to School studies for every public high school are also part of it.
This follows an earlier round of money. In 2024 the city announced $7.5 million in federal Safe Streets For All funds for the Riverside Neighborhood Safety Investment Project, which targets the area around Arlington Avenue, Adams Street, La Sierra Avenue and Highway 91 with 16.2 miles of bike lanes, high visibility crosswalks and audible pedestrian push buttons at 85 intersections, new sidewalks and speed humps, per the City of Riverside.
Grant Money Moves Slowly. Traffic Does Not.
Federal safety grants run on a long clock. An application authorized in May 2026 still has to be scored, awarded, designed, bid and built. The crosswalk that eventually gets a flashing beacon is still an ordinary crosswalk this afternoon.
So the practical question for anyone driving Central Avenue, Tyler Street or La Sierra Avenue right now is not what the street will look like in 2029. It is what to do in the hours after someone runs a light and hits you.
What to Do in the First 48 Hours After a Riverside Crash
- Call 911 and ask for a police report even if the damage looks minor. Whether Riverside PD or CHP responds depends on where you are, but a report number is one of the more useful things you can walk away with.
- Get checked out the same day. Soft tissue injuries and concussions often feel worse on day three, and a gap in treatment is the first thing an adjuster will point to.
- Photograph the scene before the cars move if it is safe to do so. Include the signal heads, the crosswalk striping, any faded lane lines and the sight lines from your approach.
- Get names and phone numbers for witnesses. They scatter fast, and the police report will not always list them.
- Write down the exact intersection and direction of travel while it is fresh. “Southbound Central at Fremont” is worth far more later than “somewhere near the 91.”
- Report the crash to your own insurer. Do not give a recorded statement to the other driver’s insurer before you have talked to a lawyer.
- Keep every bill, mileage log and pay stub showing missed work. These are the pieces that document a claim.
Why the City’s Own Safety Records Can Matter
Here is the part most people miss. Cities do not pick corridors at random. Riverside’s grant applications name specific streets and intersections precisely because of their collision history, and the city has said grant funds should be directed to intersections with a record of high injury crashes.
That paper trail can matter. Public records about signal timing, prior complaints, sight obstructions and known crash patterns at a location are sometimes obtainable, and they can help document how a crash actually happened rather than leaving it as one driver’s word against another’s. If a defective or poorly maintained roadway condition contributed, that is worth looking at early, because claims against a public entity in California run on a much shorter clock than ordinary claims.
The Deadlines That Catch Riverside Drivers Off Guard
Most California personal injury claims carry a two year deadline to file suit. But if a city, county or state agency may share responsibility, a written government claim generally has to be presented within six months of the incident. Six months goes quickly when you are still in physical therapy. If a signal, a crosswalk, a median or a road design may be part of what happened, treat that six month window as the real deadline and get someone looking at it well before then.
Getting Help
If you were hurt in a crash in Riverside, our firm handles car accident and pedestrian accident claims throughout Riverside County, and you can read more about how we work with local clients on our Riverside car accident page. Consultations are free and there are no attorney’s fees unless we win.
The safer crosswalks are coming. Until then, the strongest protection you have after a crash is a clear record made early.