The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) has awarded Medford a $1,276,000 grant under their Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program.
Only 23 projects were funded throughout the state, with Medford Township and Medford Lakes Borough, the only two in Burlington County.
The SRTS grant program is intended to improving safety by providing resources to improve sidewalks and bike paths near schools. The Safe Routes to School program encourages children to stay active by walking and biking to school, and is an example of how NJDOT, working with the state’s three regional planning authorities, and local municipalities and counties, helps utilize federal funding to support communities through local transportation projects.
Medford’s infrastructure improvement projects to be funded through the grant are located in Medford Village, including linkages to Allen Elementary, Haines Fifth Grade Center, Memorial Middle School the Pinelands’ branch library, Medford Park and Tomlinson Park.
Improvements will include include new sidewalks; pedestrian and bicycle crossing additions’ and better bicycle facilities on Mill Street, Stokes, Road, Allen Avenue, Union Street and Gill Road.
Township officials collaborated with the Medford school district on the grant application. A previously announced $1,496,000 grant from NJDOT will fund similar improvements on Main Street from Church Road to Chapel Avenue. Work is currently taking place on Allen Avenue to install new sidewalk and replace lifted sidewalks. It is funded in part by a $75,000 Burlington County Community Development Block Grant.
