Savannah taps $2M grant ahead of MLK and St. Patrick’s Day to boost safety measures

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - As 2026 gets under way, city leaders and public safety officials are preparing for two of Savannah’s largest annual events: the Martin Luther King Jr. parade on Jan. 19 and the St. Patrick’s Day celebrations that draw large crowds each March.

Mayor Van Johnson spoke Thursday about the city’s planning and security approach, stressing that careful preparation is the primary way to keep residents and visitors safe during the busy parade season.

“It’s just volume, we just have more people,” Mayor Johnson said. “For us we’re getting into our gametime season and we know it gets better in February and in March, more people again, the more we can use those funds to create better outcomes in terms of pedestrian safety I think is better for everybody. Not just those who are visiting us but for those who live here every day.”

Savannah police emphasized the same point: separation is in the preparation. Police say they are coordinating plans to manage the influx of people and the traffic patterns that come with large public events.

One component of the city’s preparations is a roughly $2 million award from a grant program aimed at enhancing road safety and reducing injuries and fatalities on streets. City officials say the funding will be applied to pedestrian-safety measures that are particularly important during peak visitor periods.

According to Visit Savannah, roughly 300,000 people come to the city for St. Patrick’s Day, and thousands are expected for the MLK parade on Jan. 19. Those attendance figures, officials say, make planning and traffic control a priority for public-safety teams.

Recent incidents in the city have raised public concern about safety. Mayor Johnson described a string of violent incidents — including an acid attack near Forsyth Park and a shooting at a Target store this past weekend — as “anomalies,” and noted that overall violent crime has declined.

WTOC has obtained the city’s 2025 crime report and will publish a closer look at last year’s trends and how law enforcement is responding to these incidents.

Officials say more information about road closures, parade staging areas and police presence will be released as plans are finalized.