SHREWSBURY – A new shared-use path may be heading to Jordan Pond.
The Shrewsbury project was one of 81 trail projects that was awarded funding through the state MassTrails Grant Program.
Shrewsbury will receive $50,000 for the design, engineering and permitting. Shared-use plans would make the path accessible. It could, in turn, be used by both bicyclists and pedestrians.
Currently, there is a partial trail at Jordan Pond.
“We are excited to receive this grant,” Board of Selectmen Chair Moe DePalo said in a press release last month. “It will allow the town to develop plans to extend the accessible walking path around Jordan Pond and connect it to the Elizabeth Garden Senior Apartments.”
Elizabeth Gardens is located nearby at 11 Elizabeth St.
Jordan Pond is located behind Shrewsbury’s Coolidge Elementary School.
This grant will fund design and engineering for a new shared-use path on the eastern, southern and northern sides of the pond.
In the town’s press release, officials said that two connection opportunities will be weighed and considered.
The town will be required to match this state contribution with $20,000 of its own funds.
Shrewsbury was one of three communities that received MassTrail grant funds in this grant cycle.
Southborough received a $50,000 grant for its Peninsula Trail, which will help connect the already existing Boroughs Loop and Aqueduct trails. The town will match that grant with $87,177 of its own funds.
Officials are interested in a nearly two-mile path. Within that, they plan to use the grant funds to construct a 0.4-mile section that will be in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act guidelines.
In Westborough, a $11,161 MassTrails grant will help fund the replacement of what town officials have deemed an “unsafe” bridge in the Bowman Conservation Area.
This bridge project will replace a 40-year-old structure over a tributary to Sandra Pond. The new bridge will be five feet wide, have railings and span 24 feet across the tributary.
The town will still pay roughly $3,000 toward the project in addition to the state’s money.
