Newton Receives Infrastructure Funding Award By MassDOT

NEWTON, MA – Newton has been awarded an infrastructure funding award for design and construction services in areas surrounding elementary, middle, and high schools by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.

The Massachusetts Safe Routes to School 2022-2023 Infrastructure Program provides both design and construction services for projects between $300,000 and $2 million in areas immediately around public elementary, middle, and high schools throughout the state.

Newton’s proposed intersection safety improvements at Route 9 and Parker Road to improve visibility and increase safety for students walking and bicycling to both schools received the funding program award. The grant was jointly submitted by the City of Newton, the Oak Middle School and the Brown Middle School.

$13 million total in infrastructure funding awards has been awarded to eight schools and partner municipalities in Massachusetts.

“We are pleased to be able to provide funding for these important local infrastructure projects which will help create safe pathways for students to get to and from their schools,” Transportation Secretary and CEO Gina Fiandaca said in a news release.

“Individuals of all ages are eager to walk and bike more in their communities and it’s our goal to continue to collaborate with local officials and stakeholders to create infrastructure, connections and pathways that are accessible, equitable, and have the latest ‘best practices’ in place to ensure travelers safely reach their destinations,” Fiandaca added.

The infrastructure program began in 2019 and has awarded approximately $43 million in funding for 38 infrastructure projects across the Commonwealth.

Projects include transportation construction and capital improvement initiatives to improve safety and/or increase the number of children walking and biking to school and are located within two miles of a public school serving children in any grades between kindergarten to twelfth grade.

• Freetown: Proposed creation of a shared use path along this town’s Memorial Drive to improve pedestrian and bicyclist safety. The grant was jointly submitted by the Town of Freetown and the Freetown Elementary School.
• Holliston: Proposed installation of a new shared use path and crosswalk along Linden Street to improve pedestrian and bicyclist safety and improve connections to a local shared-use path. The grant was jointly submitted by the Town of Holliston, the Placentino Elementary School, Miller Elementary School, and the Adams Middle School.
• Holyoke: Proposed traffic calming measures and pedestrian and bicyclist safety improvements to help support students within walking and cycling distance of the school. The grant was jointly submitted by the City of Holyoke and the H.B. Lawrence School.
• Reading: Proposed road diet to create a shared use path and intersection safety improvements at Hillside Road and Birch Meadow Drive to improve pedestrian and bicyclist safety. The grant was jointly submitted by the Town of Reading and Coolidge Middle School.
• Southampton: Proposal to install sidewalks, crosswalks, a protected bicycle lane, and other safety improvements along Pomeroy Meadow Road to increase safety for students and their families. The grant was jointly submitted by the Town of Southampton and the William E. Norris School.
• Springfield: Proposed traffic calming measures in addition to pedestrian and bicyclist safety improvements throughout the Bowles Park Corridor to support students walking, rolling, and bicycling to school. The grant was jointly submitted by the City of Springfield and Samuel Bowles Elementary School.
• Westborough: Proposed the installation of a new shared use path and traffic calming measures along Fisher Street to support the many students who walk, bicycle, and roll to school. The grant was jointly submitted by the Town of Westborough and the Gibbons and Armstrong Schools.

Financial support for the program included $15 million of Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) funds set aside for SRTS projects in the State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) within federal fiscal year 2027. The selected projects will soon begin the project initiation and design process before being scheduled for construction in the STIP.