Senator Eldridge and Representative Sena Highlight $200,000 from Baker-Polito Administration’s Shared Streets & Spaces Program for Town of Shirley

Funds will be used to install a multipurpose path to connect Ayer Shirley Regional Middle School to sports fields, the library, Town Hall, and the Shirley MBTA Commuter Station.

Boston, MA – Senator Eldridge and Representative Sena have ensured that the latest round of funding for the Baker-Polito Administration’s Shared Streets & Spaces Emergency Grant Program include $200,000 for the town of Shirley. The program, which was launched on June 10, provides technical and funding assistance to help Massachusetts cities and towns conceive, design, and implement tactical changes to curbs, streets, on-street parking spaces and off-street parking lots in support of public health, safe mobility, and renewed commerce.

The $200,000 Shirley received will be used to install a multipurpose path to connect Ayer Shirley Regional Middle School to Taylor Athletic Fields, Hazen Memorial Library, Town Hall, and the Shirley MBTA Commuter Station.

 “This pedestrian improvement will be a terrific addition to Shirley connecting so many frequented locations making it safer for students attending the Ayer Middle School and seniors living in Shirley Meadows housing development. I am very grateful to the Shirley Board of Selectmen for their continued focus on improvements to downtown Shirley. Thank you to the Baker-Polito administration for prioritizing creating spaces and community in our towns especially during these difficult times,” said Senator Jamie Eldridge (D-Acton).

"I am thrilled that Shirley is receiving $200,000 to install a multipurpose path to connect the Ayer Shirley Regional Middle School, Hazen Library, Shirley Town Hall, and the Shirley MBTA Commuter Station. This will create safer routes for children who walk to school and the library, and a safer route for our many commuters who travel to Boston every day,” said State Representative Danillo Sena (D-Acton).

The quick-build grant program provides grants as small as $5,000 and as large as $300,000 for municipalities to quickly launch changes to sidewalks, curbs, streets, on-street parking spaces and off-street parking lots in support of public health, safe mobility – including safe walking and biking to schools – and renewed commerce. These improvements can be intentionally temporary, in the style of tactical urbanism, or can be pilots of potentially permanent changes to streets and sidewalks.

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