MONTAGUE, MA (FRANKLIN COUNTY NOW) — The Montague Selectboard authorized the town to apply for a new Massachusetts Department of Transportation Local Early-stage Actionable Planning program grant for the planning and design of a shared-use path on Industrial Boulevard.

Assistant Town Administrator Chris Nolan-Zeller wrote that Industrial Boulevard “currently lacks pedestrian facilities, and along with enhancing safety for students traveling to or from the Tech School, it would also help protect anyone walking, cycling, or using the Franklin Regional Transit Authority to access any of the employers located in the Industrial Park.”

The shared-use path could connect Turners Falls High School to the Industrial Park, a project Nolan-Zeller believes would make for “a highly competitive future construction grant application, particularly under the Safe Routes to School program, with some upfront engineering support that this program would provide if awarded.”