Shared Streets funding doubled to $10M, applications still being accepted

On Sept. 10, the administration announced that total funding would double to $10 million for the Shared Streets and Spaces Emergency Grant Program.

The administration also announced the award of $3.9 million in the largest round of funding to date.

The program, which was launched on June 10, provides technical and funding assistance to help Massachusetts cities and towns conceive, design and implement tactical changes to curbs, streets, on-street parking spaces, and off-street parking lots in support of public health, safe mobility – including safe walking and biking to schools – and renewed commerce.

Gov. Charlie Baker said that the past six months have been “especially tough on local downtowns, main streets and businesses in each of the Commonwealth’s communities” due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The Shared Streets and Spaces Emergency Grant Program has helped communities recover economically,” he said, “and we are pleased that these grants can support businesses and invest in ways to create more space and follow safety guidance during the pandemic.”

Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito added that “it’s important to continue to support local businesses, restaurants and all retailers who make up the fabric of our communities.”

Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack added that the program has awarded funding to many environmental justice communities, which “have been especially hit hard by COVID-19 and are working to make improvements near businesses, schools, health centers and other locations in order to help people travel safely.”

With the new round of funding, the program will have given out a total of $7.7 million for 91 projects in 78 municipalities across Massachusetts, of which 59% are environmental justice communities.

The “quick-build” program provides grants as small as $5,000 and as large as $300,000. Eligible improvements can be intentionally temporary, “in the style of tactical urbanism,” or can be pilots of potentially permanent changes to streets and sidewalks.

Shared Streets and Spaces will continue to make awards on a rolling basis for projects that can be implemented and used this fall. Applications are being accepted through Sept. 22, and projects must be mostly or completely implemented by Oct. 9. Preference will be given to projects that can be implemented quickly, projects in designated environmental justice areas, and projects that show potential to be made permanent.

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation is managing the program, and the Barr Foundation is providing free technical assistance through service providers to city and town officials who may request help in identifying possible projects, designing project elements, applying for funding, conducting safety evaluations, and considering needs in regard to the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The following cities and towns were awarded Shared Streets and Spaces grants in the latest round:

• Acushnet: $12,918 to provide access to a public park from the Slocum Street corridor along River Street by installing a new path

• Andover: $7,975 to install new bicycle racks

• Billerica: $20,000 to upgrade signage and crosswalks around all eight schools, including the purchase of supplies such as signs, posts and paint

• Braintree: $291,238 to update crosswalks, construct ADA-compliant ramps, and install signage and flashing safety beacons at six schools

• Brookline: $35,085 to expand outdoor seating in parking lanes, on sidewalks and in parking lots to support local businesses

• Dedham: $285,915 to construct 1,550 feet of new sidewalk, ADA-compliant wheelchair ramps, new road striping and signage, and crosswalks along the south side of Cedar Street, providing new and safer connections to residential neighborhoods

• East Longmeadow: $117,574 to construct 180 feet of new asphalt trail from the northern terminus of the Redstone Rail Trail to Maple Court, install new traffic calming measures, and establish outdoor dining areas making use of 22 parking spaces and including public art to be designed and implemented by local business owners and other abutters

• Everett: $150,000 to implement peak-hour northbound bus-lanes on approximately one-half mile of Broadway and one-quarter mile of Main Street in order to alleviate delays for bus passengers

• Fitchburg: $53,295 to implement a multi-element project, including reimagining Commercial Street as a pedestrian-only street, replacing on-street parking with traffic calming measures, establishing formal loading zones, restoring crosswalks, and making existing crosswalk ramps ADA-accessible

• Framingham: $266,250 to construct new ADA-compliant concrete sidewalks, new bump-outs at intersections, and shortened crossing distances, all for improved pedestrian safety

• Gardner: $47,999 to create outdoor dining opportunities in two downtown locations, which will also serve as waiting areas for customers of barbers and hair and nail salons

• Greenfield: $66,018 to support local restaurants by implementing outdoor dining at seven locations and temporarily closing certain streets for use by pedestrians only

• Holliston: $12,000 to convert Front Street to one-way in the southbound direction and create a pedestrian zone to the intersection at Winthrop Street, to include curb extension, crosswalks and wayfinding to help access the Upper Charles Rail Trail

• Leicester: $20,000 for 12 new benches and six new solar-powered flashing signs to slow traffic and ensure safety for pedestrians at three crosswalks located near the Town Common, Becker College and Leicester Middle School

• Lynn: $125,000 for the installation of bike lanes without the need for street reconstruction or alteration

• Marblehead: $67,000 to install flashing safety beacons, new pedestrian-oriented signage, pedestrian-activated buttons, and ADA-compliant ramps near multi-use rail trail and middle school, and for umbrellas, tents, planters, chairs, tables, jersey barriers and portable ramps to accommodate outdoor dining on sidewalks and in portions of streets

• Merrimac: $6,200 to fund 50 feet of new sidewalk next to Town Hall

• Middleton: $164,936 to convert a three-quarter-mile section of rail bed to a temporary multi-use trail, which, along with upgrades and traffic calming measures at crossings, will connect residents to a local school as well as increase space for people to be outside

• Milton: $57,731 for new bi-directional protected bicycle lane and better pick-up and drop-off at the St. Mary’s School and the Pierce Middle School

• Natick: $55,000 to create a separated bike/shared-use lane by making use of the shoulders on a segment of Route 30 connecting the Snake Brook Trail at Cochituate State Park on the east (in the town of Wayland) with the commercial Speen Street area on the west (in the town of Natick)

• Newburyport: $244,912 to support 16 seasonal, reusable parklets in the downtown area, to include installing new code-compliant curb cuts/ramps and newly laid brick sidewalks

• North Adams: $44,483 to support the establishment of new outdoor dining areas, including traffic calming infrastructure, new signage, pavement markings, safety barriers, and the reallocation of on-street parking

• Northbridge: $135,740 to reconfigure a school parking lot to create a safer drop-off area, install a temporary sidewalk using water barriers to connect the parking lot with the crossing guard crosswalk, redirect entrance and egress patterns for the school, install new signage, and add two new ADA-accessible parking spaces

• Princeton: $40,791 to create a temporary ADA-compliant 1,600-foot sidewalk to provide safe passage for pedestrians walking and biking in the business center

• Revere: $21,540 to repurpose on-street parking and extend sidewalks to provide outdoor dining in two locations

• Shelburne: $6,048 to improve safety for schoolchildren by installing solar-powered pedestrian safety beacons at the Mechanic Street/Grove Street intersection adjacent to the Buckland Shelburne Elementary School

• Shirley: $200,000 to install a multipurpose path to connect a regional middle school to sports fields, the library, Town Hall, and the MBTA Commuter Rail station

• Somerville: $38,930 to install protected bicycle lanes across the Wellington Bridge (Route 28/Fellsway)

• Springfield: $100,000 to reconstruct intersections at St. James Avenue/Wellesley Street and Dwight Street/Bruce Landon Way with new bike lanes, expanded bus stops, and pedestrian curb extensions to reduce crossing distance, improve sightlines and narrow vehicular lanes

• Sterling: $66,000 to fund safety beacons, curb extensions, better crosswalk delineation, and flexible posts, and to fund dedicated bike lane from Waushacum Avenue to the Central Mass Rail Trail, improve curb ramps and crosswalks, and convert on-street parking into dedicated space for outdoor dining

• Swampscott: $150,000 to convert an abandoned railroad corridor into a safe and accessible linear park that will link to other existing trails, including the Marblehead and Salem Trail and the Northern Strand

• Taunton: $150,000 to provide traffic calming, enhanced pedestrian safety, and ADA-accessibility measures at a three-way intersection used by elementary, middle and high school students

• Topsfield: $181,865 to construct and install semi-permanent parklets, outdoor seating, solar-powered lamps, temporary signage, curb extensions and yield markings to create a safer space for pedestrians, including along a key elementary school route

• Uxbridge: $241,875 to construct 4,000 feet of sidewalk, to include accessible curb-ramps, signage and crosswalks, in order to better and more safely connect two schools and recreational areas

• Wayland: $29,070 to repurpose off-street parking to install a new outdoor dining and seating area while also establishing new connections to the Mass Central Rail Trail

• West Boylston: $147,460 to install traffic calming measures and 720 feet of ADA-accessible sidewalk, including wheelchair ramps and driveway aprons, within a school zone

• Westhampton: $61,100 to provide a new and safer child drop-off and pick-up zone at the Westhampton Elementary School

• Weymouth: $30,090 to support temporary outdoor dining by reimagining on-street parking areas as dining space, supported by new traffic calming measures

• Worcester: $136,740 to install outdoor seating areas and ADA-compliant sidewalks in the Canal District, to include experimenting with converting streets to use by pedestrians only, traffic calming and speed reduction measures