The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) is announcing the award of $2,805,194.22 in the fourth round of funding from the Baker-Polito Administration’s Shared Winter Streets and Spaces program, including an award to Revere and Chelsea for a bus lane.
The program, which was launched on November 10, provides technical and funding assistance to help Massachusetts cities and towns conceive, design, and implement tactical changes to curbs, streets, and parking areas in support of public health, safe mobility, and renewed commerce, with a special focus on the particular challenges of winter.
The awards made today will provide funding to 17 municipalities and two public transit authorities for 19 projects. 58% of the awarded municipalities are designated Environmental Justice communities and 79% are considered high-risk for Covid infections. 53% of today’s winners have never received a Shared Streets and Spaces award before.
Since the inception of the program in June of 2020, the Commonwealth has invested $21.1 million in municipal Shared Streets projects.
The Shared Winter Streets and Spaces program provides 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 intentionally temporary or can be pilots of potentially permanent changes. MassDOT is particularly focused on projects that respond to the current public health crisis and provide safe mobility for children, for elders, to public transportation, and to open space and parks.
The local awards include:
•The MBTA, in partnership with Revere and Chelsea, received $196,900.00 to install a peak-only shared bus/bike lane on the southbound side of Broadway, from Revere Street to the Revere/Chelsea line.