Wilbraham and Longmeadow were among 192 towns awarded $5.6 million in grants as part of Massachusetts’ Municipal Road Safety Grant program, which aims to target and improve local traffic safety issues through enforcement, additional strategies and needed equipment.
Each town’s police department were awarded the funds for use addressing specific needs in its community. The awards were announced in late September following a July 1 deadline, according to the state. In addition to the Municipal Road Safety Grant program, funds were also awarded through the State Agency Traffic Safety Grant Program and Underserved Communities Traffic Safety Grant Program, totaling more than $12.4 million across the three programs.
In the Municipal Road Safety Grant program, funds are provided to towns through monthly reimbursements. The funds are divided by Office of Grants and Research after being initially awarded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Wilbraham
The town of Wilbraham was awarded $28,318 to support four traffic safety initiatives by the Wilbraham Police Department, Traffic Safety Coordinator Sgt. Brian Strong told Reminder Publishing. The initiatives are part of multi-year work by the department to address fast and “aggressive” driving in the town.
The grant funds will pay for the handheld lidar sensor training of five Wilbraham officers, the cost of overtime for officers conducting high visibility traffic enforcement and the continuation of the department’s child passenger safety program to assist residents with child safety seats in vehicles, Strong stated.
Likewise, the grant will allow the department to purchase a cloud-based radar traffic sign to adapt to driver’s individual speeds and collect data on traffic speed and volume, Strong said, noting that the sign will allow for a larger area of analysis of the town’s traffic data.
“A vast majority of complaints [from residents] revolve around perceived speeds. The radar speed signs allow us to collect data to either confirm or alleviate citizen complaints,” Strong explained, stating that town has been utilizing funds and initiatives from the Municipal Road Safety Grant program for the past four years. During this time, the department previously used funds to purchase radar traffic signs, equipment for radar and lidar as well as train child passenger safety technicians.
Another major traffic safety concern in Wilbraham is school bus safety, which is largely emphasized during the current time of year, Strong said. He stated that the department is working with the Highway Department to enforce crosswalk usage as well as having unmarked police vehicles follow buses to note any violations.
“Speed is always major concern for citizens therefore we devote a lot of resources to reducing speed,” Strong explained. He noted that the department’s concerns for traffic safety were mostly addressed through funds from the town and the Municipal Road Safety Grant program.
The new radar sign is expected to be in place by Thanksgiving and the lidar training to occur in spring 2025, Strong said. While the child passenger safety program is available all year, the department is also considering hosting a specific event in 2025.
When asked about additional traffic issues to address in Wilbraham, Strong noted that the department had applied for and been denied for funds to purchase a drone or unmanned aerial vehicle to map vehicle crashes. He stated that the department could look into this concern for additional future grants.
Strong encouraged residents to reach out to the Wilbraham Regional Emergency Communications Center to report traffic safety concerns to the Police Department, noting that this enabled the department to share further information about the issue and provide advice on how to approach the concerns. Furthermore, concerns posted on social media can be overlooked.
Wilbraham Regional Emergency Communications can be reached by phone at 413-596-9771.
Longmeadow
In Longmeadow, the Police Department received $16,563 as part of the Municipal Road Safety Grant program to fully fund additional patrol shifts to support the enforcement of local traffic safety, Sgt. Danielle Rex-Bernashe told Reminder Publishing. Rex-Bernashe works within the Traffic and Safety Division of the Longmeadow Police Department.
“Longmeadow Police Department is always looking for ways to make our streets safer for the motoring public, pedestrians and bicyclists. Grants such as these allow additional funds to dedicate officers to enforcing and educating the public about traffic offenses,” Rex-Bernashe said.
She explained that Longmeadow’s proximity to Interstate 91 results in a higher volume of commuter traffic while the town’s roads are also utilized by many local bicyclists and pedestrians. For this reason, the Longmeadow police are “always working towards traffic safety and enforcement.”
In 2023, the department was able to make 241 additional traffic stops in town due to traffic safety shifts that were funded through the Municipal Road Safety Grant program, Rex-Bernashe stated. The department also took part in six campaigns for traffic enforcement with these funds.
When asked about specific concerns that the department has for traffic safety, Rex-Bernashe highlighted distracted driving, stating that the department had seen an increase in this behavior.
“Longmeadow Police Department believes strongly that everyone deserves to be safe on our streets,” she emphasized.
The additional officer shifts funded by the grant will occur between November 2024 and September 2025, Rex-Bernashe said. The department will also participate in the review of traffic safety concerns with the town’s traffic review advisory group.
This group reviews requests for changes to traffic regulations, events that may significantly impact traffic and community concerns on traffic safety as well as oversees certain traffic-related projects. It includes the town’s community resource officer, DPW director, police chief, town engineer and town manager, according to the town.
The Longmeadow Police Department can be reached by phone at 413-567-3311.
