Antrim has been approved for a Complete Streets Implementation Grant to complete a proposed sidewalk between the T-Bird convenience store at routes 202 and 31 and access to the town’s McCabe Forest on Concord Street. 

At Antrim’s December Planning Board meeting, board Vice Chair John Anderson reported he was obtaining estimates on the sidewalk and did not have a rough cost yet. Anderson noted that actuated crossing signs with pedestrian walk lights, which have been suggested for the intersection of 202 and 31, cost about $10,000 apiece. 

At Antrim’s August 2023 Planning Board meeting, Anderson said the Southwestern Regional Planning Committee had sent a letter to the town indicating that Antrim was eligible for technical assistance in applying for  a Complete Streets grant.  In October, Anderson submitted the grant application to the Southwestern Regional Planing Committee  with the support of the Antrim Select Board. 

Planning Board representative Ashley Brudnick-Detromp said the Planning Board’s next step was to gather a five-member Complete Streets committee, which Anderson is organizing. Members of the committee will attend five two-hour educational seminars with the state to learn how to implement the grant. 

“John came to us with this grant; he did all the work, and then we found out we had been approved,” Brudnick-Detromp said Tuesday. “The town is very fortunate we have someone with his expertise who was able to do this. This will be a great thing for Antrim.” 

The Complete Streets grant, administered by the Southwestern Regional Planning Committee, is designed to assist towns in implementing a  “complete streets” design which would take into account safety and accessibility for users of all ages and abilities and accommodate all modes of transportation, with particular focus on bike and pedestrian safety; and encourage healthy lifestyles. 

Eligible communities can apply for up $120,000. According to Monadnock Alliance for Sustainable Transportation (MAST), areas designated as Complete Streets “balance the needs of people walking, bicycling, driving a car, riding public transit, using wheelchairs or other mobility devices, etc.”

The Monadnock Region Complete Streets Implementation Grant was funded by an anonymous donation though the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation to the Monadnock Alliance for Sustainable Transportation (MAST) in 2018. Complete Streets grants have funded crosswalks, sidewalks, actuated crossing signs, wheelchair ramps, bicycle infrastructure, including bike racks;  and lighting. 

For information about Complete Streets grants, go to mastnh.org/2023-complete-streets-grant.