Plano police are asking the City Council on Monday, Oct. 12, to accept another year of state money for extra traffic patrols, and the grant paperwork spells out where officers plan to concentrate them.
A consent item for the 7 p.m. meeting would authorize the city to take part in the Texas Highway Traffic Safety Program through the 2027 Selective Traffic Enforcement Program, or STEP, grant.
According to the police department's memo, the grant totals $170,689.80: about $126,766 in federal money passed through the Texas Department of Transportation and a required city match of $43,924, which would come from the city's Traffic Safety Fund. The money mainly reimburses officer overtime and benefits.
The memo traces the program to 2002, when the department applied to TxDOT for money to add enforcement at problem intersections where red-light crashes were causing injuries and deaths.
Where and what
The grant agreement runs from Oct. 1, 2026, through Sept. 30, 2027, and lists two enforcement zones, both with 24-hour enforcement allowed. Zone 1 is bounded by Alma Drive on the west, Avenue K on the east, the State Highway 190 service road on the south and Parker Road on the north.
Zone 2 picks up at Parker Road and runs north to Legacy Drive and Chase Oaks Boulevard, again between Alma and Avenue K.
Officers working grant shifts are told to give priority to five areas: drunken driving, speeding, seat belt and child safety seat use, intersection traffic control and distracted driving. Holiday periods, including Christmas and New Year's, spring break, Memorial Day, Independence Day and Labor Day, are flagged as priorities.
