Alabama awards about $1.53 million for traffic safety in 19 counties

Alabama awarded about $1.53 million through five traffic-safety grants for a 19-county region that includes Mobile County. The grants went through the Mobile County Commission for the Southwest Region of the Community Traffic Safety Program.

Gov. Kay Ivey announced the awards Oct. 14, 2026. Statewide, more than $6.6 million was awarded through 20 grants to four regional offices. The awards are intended to support law-enforcement overtime and public-education campaigns.

The Southwest Region’s reported total is lower than the amounts announced for each of the other three regions:

Enforcement and education across the region

Regional law-enforcement agencies are eligible for funds to increase enforcement in community problem areas selected using traffic data, including speeding and impaired-driving hotspots. Stated enforcement priorities include speeding and seat-belt violations. The program also describes extra patrol shifts around Memorial Day and Labor Day.

The grants also support public education about impaired driving and child safety restraints. The Southwest Region covers Baldwin, Bibb, Chilton, Choctaw, Clarke, Conecuh, Dallas, Escambia, Greene, Hale, Marengo, Mobile, Monroe, Pickens, Perry, Sumter, Tuscaloosa, Washington and Wilcox counties.

The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs administers the grants using funds made available by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The regional award is not identified as funding exclusively for the City of Mobile.

The award makes funding available for eligible agencies’ enforcement and education work; it does not establish that patrols have already increased or that crashes have declined. The announcement does not specify how the Southwest Region’s funds will be divided among agencies or counties, or what portion may be spent within Mobile city limits.