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Ten Massachusetts municipalities and two agencies have just secured $25 million in federal funding to bolster roadway safety, with the aim of eliminating transportation-related fatalities and serious injuries, Gov. Maura Healey's office said Monday. Of that total, around $9.5 million is flowing to Lynn, where officials announced the recipients of the U.S. Department of Transportation's Safe Streets and Roads for All Grant Program that's funded through a 2021 federal infrastructure law.
In the meantime, locally, a critical Bellingham bridge over 1-495 has a problem.
Enlarged image of beam showing apparent multiple holes rusted through.
Ab0ut a week ago we photographed what appear to be rust holes all the way through one of the steel beams that hold up the Maple Street Bridge, in Bellingham but serving a number of Franklin locations, including the Maplegate Country Club. The street is a major connector between Route 140 and Route 126.
We mentioned the situation to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and were told someone would get back to us. A couple of days later we contacted that individual and heard the same thing. Monday, we looked up the structure in the state's database of bridges, which had supposedly been updated just the day before. (Last edited by GEODOTADMIN on 9/8/2024, 11:11 PM.) The database describes that the bridge was built in 1966 and next to 'Structurally Deficient', the word YES. Whether that is a new assessment or not, is unclear.
The nearby Farm Street bridge developed a similar rust through on one end of the span several years ago. One lane of that bridge was closed while the surface of the beam was treated and a supplemental steel plated bolted over the holes.
No word yet on what the state plans to do with the rusted section of the Maple Street bridge or when.
Fed Spending Opportunity
Meanwhile, Lynn will use their part of the Fed's $25 million money for street design changes along 17 miles of "high-injury routes to address systemic crash risks," Healey's office said. Lynn recorded 17 fatal crashes and 194 serious injury crashes from 2019 to 2023, according to the city's grant proposal.
"This grant will allow us to perform critical improvements that will benefit all drivers, pedestrians and cyclists who use our roads," Lynn Mayor Jared Nicholson said.
The MBTA received $2.2 million to retrofit 175 buses with collision avoidance technology, designed to help buses deal with "extended blind spots" in busy urban areas. Data collected from the Mobileye technology could be incorporated into the MBTA's plan, Healey's office said.
Boston won a roughly $3.5 million grant to update the city's Vision Zero Plan -- which seeks to eliminate fatal and serious traffic crashes by 2030 -- and to pilot safety projects on Meridian Street and Border Street in East Boston. That includes adjusting vehicle turning paths in certain intersections and creating separate bike lanes.
The Metropolitan Area Planning Council, which was awarded a $7.5 million grant, intends to update its comprehensive safety action plan, conduct walkability and bike-ability audits in "high-risk" locations, and implement "traffic calming" projects.
Other grant awards include $301,800 to Abington for planning and demonstration projects, such as traffic calming devices and corridor studies; $423,800 to Fitchburg to develop a comprehensive safety action plan and ADA transition plan, and implement infrastructure for "vulnerable road users" including high-visibility crosswalks, curb extensions and ADA curb ramps; and $743,800 to Haverhill to pursue temporary safety measures and analyze solutions to reach the goal of zero deaths.
There's also $237,270 headed to New Bedford for two projects in areas with a high volume of crashes involving pedestrians; $223,360 to Peabody to test safety interventions along 1.3 miles of Lynnfield Street; $126,400 to Quincy for demonstration activities to guide a comprehensive action plan; $356,000 to Clinton to develop a comprehensive safety action plan; and $806,200 to Watertown for an educational campaign, citywide speed limit study, and projects like traffic calming.
