CLARKSBURG, Mass. — The town has was awarded nearly $78,000 toward making a section of Middle Road more pedestrian and bicyclist friendly. 

 

The money was part of some $5.5 million in Complete Streets program grants announced recently by Gov. Charlie Baker. The program was launched in fiscal 2016 as a way to promote safe and accessible access to all modes of transportation along the state's byways, such as improving sidewalks and intersections, widening roads for cycling and walking, and upgrading areas to meet the Americans with Disabilities Act.

 

Clarksburg will receive $77,902 to improve Middle Road by widening it to create a 4-foot shoulder with bicycle marking symbols. According to the state Highway Department, "this work represents this first of a four-phased effort to reconstruct Middle Road to more safely accommodate cyclists and pedestrians from the North Adams town line northward to the River Road (Route 8) intersection."

 

Town Administrator Carl McKinney said this first section runs from the four-way intersection of Middle and Cross roads south to the pump station on Middle Road. 

 

"Hopefully, [we will] wrap it with other funding sources to do a portion of Middle Road," wrote Town Administrator Carl McKinney in an email. "We would have to bid it out as we do not have the machinery or manpower for such a project."

 

Clarksburg adopted a policy in 2016 to include Complete Streets concepts in its road project designs and applied to enter the program. The town had to send an employee to complete a training program, approve a policy that scores high against state criteria, and development a street priority plan. Towns are eligible to receive from $50,000 in technical assistance up to $400,000 in construction funding. 

 

The Baker-Polito administration has awarded approximately $23.2 million since creating a funding program to 148 municipalities since 2016.

 

"We are proud to announce the latest round of Complete Streets awards to support efforts by cities and towns to upgrade their transportation infrastructure," said the governor in a statement. "The Complete Streets program enables our municipal partners to improve their roadways, sidewalks, multi-use paths and intersections, so that our infrastructure works for everyone, whether they are driving, cycling, walking or using public transit."