NORTH DAKOTA (KXNET) — The federal government wants to make our roads and interstates safer, and this may soon become a reality.

The U.S. Department of Transportation is giving cities and counties in our state over $4 and a half million dollars to improve our safety protocols.

$320,000 was awarded to the City of Williston, and just under $ 3 million dollars was awarded to McKenzie County. With these funds, our communities can identify high-risk rural roads, recommend low-cost countermeasures, and implement better street lighting in the area.

“Crashes kill as many people in America as gun violence, explains U.S Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, “and yet, road safety gets less attention than so many other transportation issues.”

According to the state, North Dakota sees a lot of crashes at right-angle intersections and along curves in our rural counties — especially if there are no street lights there.