$138K State Grant To Fund New Danvers Street Crossings

DANVERS, MA — Danvers will use a $138,000 state grant to create two new crossings for the Rail Trail on Maple Street and Hobart Road and to install other upgrades to curbs and lighting.

The award is part of $16.4 million for 184 new awards to 138 municipalities and seven Regional Transit Authorities through the Shared Streets and Spaces Program.

This round of funding placed particular emphasis on two new types of projects: those to reduce vehicle speeds in order to increase safety, and those to purchase equipment needed to improve and maintain infrastructure for active transportation.

"With speeding and speeding-related crashes becoming more and more prevalent as we emerge from the pandemic, safety and driving at appropriate speeds has never been so important," said Transportation Secretary and CEO Jamey Tesler. "MassDOT encourages municipalities to think strategically and implement speed reduction measures to reduce crashes and the severity of injuries in crashes."

The funding will allow Danvers to install ADA-compliant curb ramps, high-visibility crosswalks, lighting, flashing signals, signal-time adjustments, bicycle parking and wayfinding to the Rail Trail areas.

Grants announced on Tuesday are the largest award round since the program was launched in June 2020.

"We are glad to be funding projects that reduce vehicular speeds and provide safe mobility for children, for seniors, to public transportation, housing, and to open space and parks," Gov. Charlie Baker said.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)