Town Manager Scott C. Crabtree Announces Town of Saugus Awarded $98,000 Shared Street and Spaces Grant to Create a Safer Cliftondale Square - July 21, 2021

Town Manager Scott C. Crabtree Announces Town of Saugus Awarded $98,000 Shared Street and Spaces Grant to Create a Safer Cliftondale Square

(Saugus, MA) July 21, 2021 – Town Manager Scott C. Crabtree is pleased to announce that the Town of Saugus has been awarded $98,000 through the Baker-Polito Administration’s Shared Streets and Spaces competitive grant program to make traffic and sidewalk improvements in Cliftondale Square.

“We are grateful of the Baker-Polito Administration and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s support of the Town of Saugus and its goal to create safer streets, sidewalks, and crossings in Cliftondale Square,” said Town Manager Crabtree.

Saugus officials have spent years researching and identifying infrastructure improvement needs within Cliftondale Square. Following careful research and data collection, Saugus officials applied for funding assistance from the Department of Transportation to begin making necessary capital improvements to this important community neighborhood. After recently being awarded this funding, the Town will now be able to make these important and necessary improvements.

The Shared Streets and Spaces grant program, which was created in response to COVID-19, allows Massachusetts cities and towns to apply for funding to assist their needs for safer outdoor recreation, commerce, community activities, and mobility. With this grant funding, the Town of Saugus will be able to fund a “road diet” for the rotary in Cliftondale Square. A “road diet” is a best practice in transportation planning that reduces the width of a road to better organize and slow down vehicular traffic, which improves operations, mobility, and safety for walkers and riders alike.

Earlier this year, the Town of Saugus engaged The Engineering Corp. (TEC) to conduct a traffic and parking analysis of Cliftondale Square with the goal of taking a comprehensive approach to providing adequate parking, vehicle circulation, and safe pedestrian accommodations to attract new businesses, visitors, and residents to the neighborhood. The analysis identified the following recommended improvements: new ADA-accessible crosswalks, re-configured travel lanes around the rotary, designated bus-stops, crosswalk bump outs, and improved parking accessibility. The Town will consider incorporating these recommendations into the upcoming traffic and sidewalk improvements to Cliftondale Square.

“Cliftondale Square is a special neighborhood within the Town of Saugus, and it has been a long-term goal of this administration to revitalize it. With this grant award, the Town will be able to make the necessary investment to improve safety within the Square, and take initial steps towards attracting more business, visitors, and residents to this beloved area within the community,” concluded Town Manager Crabtree.

For more information, contact the Town Manager’s office at 781-231-4111.