South Framingham Bike Lanes Get State Funding: MassDOT

FRAMINGHAM, MA — A new state grant announced this week will help Framingham build more pedestrian, bike and transit infrastructure along a busy and treacherous stretch of road on the south side.

The $400,000 MassDOT grant will pay for complete streets upgrades between the intersection of Loring and Irving streets south along Western Avenue to the Sherborn town line. Those upgrades include:

• Bike lanes from the Sherborn line to Irving/Hebert Avenue
• Sidewalks from the ADESA Boston facility to Irving/Hebert Avenue
• A new MetroWest Regional Transit Authority bus stop
• New curbs, pedestrian signals and crosswalks

At present, there's no infrastructure for pedestrians or cyclists south of the Irving-Hebert Street intersection. Pedestrians walk along a narrow trail carved out of the grass along Loring to get to ADESA, MCI-Framingham and a residential area along Aaron Street.

New bike lanes will also help cyclists and pedestrians reach the beginning of the Upper Charles River Trail, which begins as a dirt path along Whitney Street near Western Avenue. The Upper Charles trail travels all the way to Milford from Sherborn.

The Framingham complete streets grant was one of 24 handed out this week in an $8.45 million funding round.