State grants will help local police enforce traffic safety lawsDate: 1/17/2024 The Agawam and West Springfield Police Departments are using state grant money for traffic safety programs in their towns. Announced in October, the fiscal year 2024 Municipal Road Safety Grant Program awarded Agawam Police $26,711.24, while West Springfield Police received $39,424.00.
“It’s been so helpful for us to enforce the traffic laws in the town of West Springfield, to target problem roads and areas,” said Sgt. Joseph LaFrance, West Springfield Police’s public information officer.
According to LaFrance, the department is using the money to run campaigns where officers target a specific traffic infraction. This started in December 2023 with an impaired driving campaign. The next campaign will take place in April and will target distracted driving, or using electronic devices at the wheel. The money also allows the short-staffed department to pay officers overtime to serve additional shifts focusing on traffic enforcement.
In an email, Agawam Police Department Safety Officer Brian Machos said that the primary grant programs they take part in use money to target distracted driving and impaired driving.
“The main focus is to make the streets of Agawam safer overall by enforcing motor vehicle laws that contribute to some of the leading causes of motor vehicle accidents,” he said.
In Agawam, MassDOT Impact Data from 2018 to 2020 lists the intersections of Suffield and Silver streets, and North Westfield and North streets, as having the highest amount of crashes. In West Springfield, the top three crash locations are all along Riverdale Street.
Problem roads in West Springfield, LaFrance said, include Memorial Avenue (Route 147), Riverdale Street (Route 5), and Piper Road. Roads along Route 20, like Park Avenue and Westfield Street, also pose problems for law enforcement.
LaFrance said people have been driving more aggressively since the coronavirus pandemic. While on patrol, he’s seen drivers run red lights, speed, and drive distracted. While he didn’t know the exact cause, he said he thought traffic enforcement was lax during the coronavirus pandemic, as officers were more focused on service calls.
LaFrance believes the grant money will improve traffic safety in town.
“The numbers are proving that we are making a lot of traffic stops,” he said. “We are enforcing traffic laws. Hopefully people on the roadways see that.”
Machos also said traffic safety grants will help reduce the number of crashes.
“By being proactive, we can hopefully not only educate drivers, but deter certain other activities, thereby reducing the number of overall motor vehicle crashes,” said Machos.
Agawam and West Springfield were among 186 police departments that received money from the FY24 Municipal Road Safety Grant Program. Others in the region include Chicopee, Holyoke, Longmeadow, Ludlow, Montgomery, Russell, Springfield, Westfield and Wilbraham.
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