By Kristen Levine, Reporter
A grant for $170,000 has been awarded to the town of Sterling from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, under the aegis of the Winter Shared Streets and Spaces Grant. The grant program was first launched in Summer 2020, focusing on town improvements for “safer walking, biking, public transit, recreation, commerce and civic activities,” as stated in the grant mission plan. Awarded by application, the grants can vary from $5000 to $200,000, depending on proposed and viable municipal improvements.
“We were in the last funding round,” Town Planner Domenica Tatasciore said. “In collaboration through the Department of Public Works and [Sterling] administration, we put the application together.”
Tatasciore sees the grant as an opportunity for changes and improvements to the Sterling town center district. With the grant funds processed as of mid-April, improvements and construction will be beginning soon.
“[It’s] meeting needs for safer mobility and multiple components for the town center district,” she said.
The planned improvements for the Sterling town center are ambitious. A large-scale project is the realignment of Meetinghouse Hill Road with Main Street, an adjustment of the roads to meet at an improved 70-degree angle from its current course. Smaller but no less important are bike rack purchases for public use, delineation of on-street parking, and improvements to Memorial Park. Parking is a special focus, both for cars and bicycles.
“Part of the grant is for delineation of on-street parking, which we don’t have,” Tatasciore said. “People aren’t sure where we have parking in town, and we’re trying to make that obvious. A lot of [the grant] is for bike parking, purchasing bike racks that will hopefully go in by the library and Mass Rail Trail.”
A proposed bike connection from the Mass Rail Trail to the town center would make use of the racks as visitors taking a break from the trail explore the town center, seeing what Sterling has to offer. Improvements to the Memorial Park area would be a draw for both town residents and visitors.
“[We will] put down materials like bricks, a fire pit, benches…[new] lighting and trash receptacles,” Tatasciore said. Items like heaters and potted plants are also on the list of improvements. “We want to create a space in the park that would be separate, congregate seating.”
The first project “needs to be finished in a few months” according to Tatasciore. The Sterling Department of Public Works is “Laying it out and starting it […], focusing on things other than the road alignment and parking. They are not digging up things more than once, and they’re trying to coordinate very cautiously.”
As the DPW prioritizes projects, construction in the town center is expected to be steady and completed sometime in the summer.
“There’s so many little components but there’s a lot here,” Tatasciore said. “We are focused on the town center. The Memorial Park will be more of a destination, a place for people to hang out. How the public likes it [would be] a pilot project. The Meetinghouse Hill Road with Main Street realignment is a more permanent fix.”
The fix in question would address the lack of definition to the intersection near the public library, providing more safety to walker space and traffic alignment. The realignment would promote a safer town center and improve the overall use of walkways and green spaces.
“It’s multifold,” Tatasciore said. “First of all the town is involved with the Complete Streets Program with MassDOT, and they talk a lot about geometrics realignment to make intersections more safe. It’s obvious that [Meetinghouse Hill Road] is at an angle that’s extremely obtuse.”
The Complete Streets Funding Program helps municipalities with technical and construction assistance. With aid coming from the Shared Streets and Spaces grant alongside MassDOT support, plans to realign the roadway will soon be underway. Additional green spaces created by the realignment will help beautify the area and generate additional use out of the improved intersection, providing a small outlet of nature for Sterling residents to enjoy.
“The realignment will make it safer for all,” Tatasciore said. “[The intersection] is very awkward. And with the leftover pavement there can be a parklet, an extension of green space in front of the library for people to congregate…by repositioning the road by 70 degrees it makes it more realistic and safer for everybody.”
When asked about her personal hopes for the grant-funded projects, Tatasciore took a more practical and big-picture approach. “It’s not about me, it’s more in terms of how the people of Sterling will take it. I hope they will take it as usable and practical, and something they would like in their community. Increased mobility and safe outdoor congregation during this time – it’s for the townspeople.”