New sidewalks for Milton Street and Bliss Corner neighborhood

Mar 1, 2018

Milton Street and the Bliss Corner Area will soon be getting a sidewalk facelift thanks to two different grants the town recently received.

On February 27, the state Department of Transportation announced Dartmouth was one of 23 towns to receive Complete Street funding to help develop areas in need of multi-modal transportation improvements.

The program emphasizes the development of "complete streets," which are streets that everyone has access to and allows for various modes of transportation.

The $200,000 funding award funding will go toward building new sidewalks from Milton Street to the ball fields.

The town also received $600,000 from MassWorks, a state infrastructure grant program, to build a sidewalk link between the Bliss Corner neighborhood, the Bliss Corner retail district, and Joseph DeMello Elementary School.

It will span from Dartmouth Street to Clarks Cove, according to David Hickox, the Director of Public Works.

Hickox said linking and creating new sidewalks allows for people, and especially children, to get places safely.

“Milton Street is a real good example of a sidewalk link that’s going to provide access from the Potter Street area and the neighbors up in that to Slocum Road, which in turn gives you access to the ball fields and Burgo Basketball,” Hickox said. “That’s really important for children getting to those facilities. It makes for a safer travel to those facilities.”

The Department of Public Works is currently replacing the water main system on Milton Street. Once the construction is finished, the engineering design work for the streets and sidewalks will begin.

Hickox said the $200,000 will supplement part of the project and other funding will be allocated to finish the rest.

Work on the water main upgrade for the Bliss Corner area project is expected to begin in the summer, once the DPW is given the go-ahead by the town.

Once the upgrade is finished, the department will start the sidewalk project.

Both areas will be reliable for residents with disabilities and have new sidewalks and trees. Curbing and pavement will also be repaired.

The Complete Streets program began February 1, 2016. So far, 148 communities have been approved and 90 have passed prioritization plans.

There are several projects the award can cover. It includes better street lighting, radar speed signage, intersection signage, new multimodal paths and new signals at crosswalks.

The Complete Street program is an extension of Gov. Charlie Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito’s authorization for $900 million in Chapter 90 local transportation funding, which started in 2015.