Montague, Northfield and Deerfield have been invited to join the inaugural Local Early and Actionable Planning (LEAP) Program offered by the state Department of Transportation, giving them the chance to receive technical assistance on transportation project planning.
The three Franklin County towns are eligible to receive support from MassDOT or a consulting partner to create conceptual design and alternative analyses, safety and traffic analyses, cost estimation and mapping support, early-stage design and engineering assistance on smaller projects, and support in submitting federal grant applications. The program, which is particularly geared toward rural and underserved communities, is funded through $1 million from the governor’s fiscal year 2026 Capital Investment Plan.
“The LEAP Program is a critical investment in the future of our communities,” Gov. Maura Healey said in a statement. “When municipalities get the assistance they need early on, they can plan for more efficient and effective projects that improve our roads and bridges, reduce congestion and improve quality of life.”
Northfield
Through the LEAP Program, Northfield will work with a MassDOT engineer to craft a plan for repairing the sidewalk along Parker Avenue, complete with cost estimates.
According to Highway Superintendent Tom Walker, the sidewalk is “in poor shape,” with little concrete remaining for residents to use. The sidewalk is one of the last in town to be repaired, Walker said, after improvements were made to walkways along Main Street, Highland Avenue and Moody Street over the past 10 years.
Besides a cost estimate, Walker hopes the MassDOT engineer will encourage input from residents through a public hearing. In the past, residents’ preferences for sidewalk repairs have ranged in width and material, like blacktop or concrete.
“That’s where you get the public input — OK, these people want this, so you can compromise back and forth to come up with a strategy rather than all of a sudden a job is being done,” Walker said.
Walker added that the LEAP Program can help take the financial load off the town’s shoulders and, as a result, out of residents’ tax bills.
Although he said a timeline has not been set, he hopes the planning will start by spring.
Deerfield
A MassDOT engineer is working with Deerfield to create a “prioritization plan” for replacing culverts, Department of Public Works Superintendent Matthew Morse said.
The Franklin Regional Council of Governments (FRCOG) completed a culvert and drainage assessment in Deerfield in 2023, according to Morse.
“It was a nicely put together program, and it showed us where our deficits are, and showed us where we have issues and where our maintenance belongs,” Morse explained. “A lot of times, those assessment plans are really good, but they lack planning and where does the plan of attack start, so the town has been looking over how we actually create a do-it plan.”
With MassDOT’s help, the prioritization plan will serve as the “do-it plan,” turning the FRCOG assessment’s findings into actionable tasks with cost estimates for replacing the culverts, including those on Pleasant Street, Kelleher Drive, Captain Lathrop Drive and behind Town Hall. After the MassDOT consultant finishes the prioritization plan, Morse intends to meet with members of the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Program to “[put] a lot of heads together in town, [make] a good decision of where we start, where we end, where we go.”
Although Morse said it is too early for a timeline, the town has already met with MassDOT to start the planning process. Morse hopes replacing the culverts will redirect water flow into brooks and help mitigate flooding, an ongoing goal in Deerfield.
“It gives us better guidance in the future,” Morse said.
He added that the LEAP Program benefits small towns in particular.
“With smaller towns, we have limited resources, so sometimes a lending hand in trying to put together a plan of this magnitude is good,” Morse said.
The superintendent is working to add information on the Deerfield DPW’s “assets,” including culverts, into a new Geographic Information System (GIS) to help provide “a much bigger picture” of the town. Once the town finishes a prioritization plan for the culverts and roads, sidewalks, sewer collection system and storm drains, Morse plans on uploading this data into the GIS platform and creating a “very solid” five-year replacement plan for these assets. With updated information on Deerfield’s infrastructure all in one place, Morse said town employees and officials will be able to plan and budget for future projects with more efficiency.
“Trying to plan better is the goal of public works,” Morse said. “Assessments are good, and that’s a good foundation, but a lot of times where we struggle is, after you have the assessment, now what? … This is going to help give us a kick-start but also [give] us the monetary value to some of these repairs [to] help us make more educated decisions.”
Montague
Assistant Town Administrator Chris Nolan-Zeller said Montague plans to work with MassDOT on safety improvements along Turners Falls and Millers Falls roads.
These two roads are high-traffic areas with wide roadways, and feature pedestrian foot traffic from the nearby elementary schools. Nolan-Zeller said town officials have heard concerns from residents about speeding on these roads, and the assistance from MassDOT will help the town better understand what improvement options are available, as well as sources of funding that could be used to implement those improvements.
The town has already had a kick-off meeting with MassDOT, but a timeline for when improvements on Turners Falls and Millers Falls roads might be made, as well as what the specific upgrades could be, is still to be determined.
Nolan-Zeller said Bowman Engineering will be helping as part of this project. He noted that the town is keeping “an open mind” about what might come from this inaugural program.