State Housing and Economic Development Secretary Mike Kennealy was in Groveland yesterday to formally present the town with a $435,000 MassWorks Infrastructure Program grant and $75,000 Urban Agenda grant to develop a new master plan.
He was joined by Groveland Town Administrator Rebecca Oldham, Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr and Rep. Lenny Mirra. As WHAV reported first in October, Groveland will use the MassWorks money to install new traffic signals at the intersection of Salem Street, School Street and Groveland Village driveway. WHAV also reported the master plan grant Nov. 19.
“These roads are vital to the town and connect our residents to Georgetown and Haverhill, but safety has become an increasing concern,” Oldham said.
The traffic light project will result in the installation of new, fully actuated traffic signals at Salem Street, School Street, and Groveland Village Driveway and will include pedestrian countdown signal heads and vibratory/audible push buttons to increase pedestrian crossing safety. In addition, the signal equipment will be timed to accommodate peak commuter travel windows, and provide the opportunity for protected turning movements to address this intersection’s known history of safety issues.
“We created the One Stop to offer access to a wide variety of programs through a single, streamlined process that ensures that valuable funds can be directed more effectively, to more communities, in less time,” said Kennealy. “The One Stop gives communities the opportunity to work collaboratively with us, to pursue multiple projects simultaneously and to meet their economic development goals. Groveland has demonstrated how communities can be creative with grant funding to maximize the impact of their investments in public infrastructure. While the first year of the One Stop has shown tremendous promise, the demand for our programs demonstrates that we can do more.”
“This is a very busy intersection and I’m happy to see this MassWorks grant for improvements that will make it a lot safer,” said Mirra. “Residents will benefit from this investment into our infrastructure.”