Arlington Awarded $57K+ In Shared Streets Grants

Arlington MA

24 September, 2020

9:40 AM

Description

ARLINGTON, MA — MassDOT awarded $858,502 in the latest round of Shared Streets & Spaces funding, including more than $57,000 for Arlington. The program, launched on June 10, provides technical and funding assistance to help cities and towns conceive, design and implement tactical changes to curbs, streets, on-street parking spaces and off-street parking lots. Arlington received $57,673.95 over two grants to fund the expansion of outdoor dining, bicycle racks, and the installation of traffic-calming measures and new signs. This quick-build grant program provides grants as small as $5,000 and as large as $300,000 for municipalities to quickly implement projects in support of public health, safe mobility – including safe walking and biking to school – and renewed commerce. These improvements can be temporary or pilots of potentially permanent changes to streets and sidewalks. The state has awarded a total of $8.5 million to 99 projects in 85 communities, of which 60 percent are Environmental Justice communities. Types of projects funded by the Shared Streets & Spaces program include: Shared Streets and Spaces: supporting increased rates of walking and/or biking by increasing safety and enabling social distancing.Outdoor Dining and Commerce: calming roadways, modifying sidewalks and streets, and/or repurposing on- or off-street parking to better support curbside/sidewalk/street retail and dining.Better Buses: supporting safer and more reliable bus transit, including expanded bus stops and lanes dedicated for bus travel, (extra scoring credit will be granted for dedicated bus lanes).Safe Routes to School: creating safe routes to schools and other programs for children and youth, including safer walking and biking networks with lowered vehicle speeds.