Somerville Awarded Additional $222K Shared Streets Grant

SOMERVILLE, MA — Somerville received a $222,200 Shared Streets and Spaces grant in the second round of winter funding from MassDOT. The program provides technical and financial assistance to help communities implement roadway changes during the winter months that support public health, safe mobility and renewed commerce.

Somerville's grant will be used to install bus queue-jumps and transit signal priority treatments to benefit bicyclists and pedestrian safety on Washington Street at the McGrath Highway underpass and the eastbound approach to Inner Belt Road.

The grants announced Monday will support 17 projects in 15 municipalities, of which 62 percent are designated Environmental Justice communities and 80 percent are considered high risk for COVID-19 infections.

The first round of funding in the Shared Winter Streets and Spaces program was announced Dec. 10 and was awarded to projects in 11 municipalities, of which 55 percent had been designated Environmental Justice Communities and 54 percent considered high-risk for COVID-19 infections.

"City and town officials have worked hard during the pandemic to support small businesses and provide sufficient space for safe outdoor activities, including walking and biking," Transportation Secretary and CEO Stephanie Pollack said in a statement. "The Baker-Polito Administration has made a total of $10 million available in this new phase of Shared Streets because the challenges of getting around and of keeping businesses open are different and more complex in the winter. I am proud of the mix of projects and municipalities represented in this round of awards and look forward to receiving more applications over the next few months. This funding will help communities keep vibrant until next year when a vaccine is more widely available and when there comes a time when physical-distancing restrictions can be loosened."

The Shared Winter Streets and Spaces program provide grants as small as $5,000 and as large as $500,000 for municipalities to quickly launch changes for safer walking, biking, public transit, recreation, commerce and civic activities.

These improvements can be temporary or pilots of potentially permanent changes. MassDOT is particularly focused on projects that respond to the public health crisis and provide safe mobility for children, for elders, to public transportation and to open space and parks.