Ludlow, Belchertown police departments receive grants to improve road safetyDate: 10/30/2023 On Oct. 17, the Healey-Driscoll administration announced that 186 Massachusetts towns and cities will receive grant funds to support traffic safety enforcement and outreach programming.
A total of approximately $5 million was awarded through the fiscal year 2024 Municipal Road Safety Grant Program.
The annual program provides funding to municipal police departments that propose traffic safety projects in their community, including high-visibility enforcement patrols, equipment to enhance road safety such as digital speed signs, pedestrian and bicyclist safety initiatives and public outreach campaigns intended to educate community members and youth about roadway safety.
As part of the funding, the Belchertown Police Department received $29,997 and the Ludlow Police Department received $13,561.
Ludlow Police Chief Daniel Valadas said the funds the department received will be used for traffic safety enforcement, traffic safety equipment and a bike rodeo event to promote bicycle safety.
He said, “Traffic safety enforcement which is basically paying for the officers to go out and look for violations, the second part is equipment and we got one solar speed sign and for bike safety we do a bike rodeo. We haven’t done it consistently every year, but we are doing it this year and we got some money for that which consists of having officers work the rodeo and people handing out helmets and coloring books for information.”
According to Valadas, the Ludlow Police Department has applied for and received this grant for the last seven or eight years.
He talked about how important this grant is to the department and the community.
“We do have areas in town that we have on our website where people can submit complaints on traffic, and we do pay attention to those, and we designate and we make notices to the patrol officers are of concerns,” Valadas said.
He added, “I think it improves overall safety. If I have a certain number of officers working and they are busy and they are chasing calls, they can’t focus on traffic so no matter how busy a road is, if I can’t get an officer out there how can I monitor traffic? This specifically allows me to have the funding to put an officer where it needs attention.”
Valadas said Sgt. Brian Shameklis is in charge of applying for the grant and is appreciative of his efforts.
Valadas added, “Certainly, we are going to keep this up. We try to get areas where we can improve, and I am hoping next year we get more money because we have some pedestrian crosswalks to look at. We are very proud of this grant, but I am also very proud about the officers who execute the grant who volunteer to work these shifts. These are not mandatory. I do not force my officers to do this, they do this because they want to do it.”
Belchertown Police Chief Kevin Pacunas said the funds will be used for an ongoing problem in Belchertown — speeding.
He added, “Speeding has continually been a problem in Belchertown. Speeding and erratic driving behavior is where we receive our most complaints. Belchertown encompasses approximately 52 square miles and 163 miles of roads, which makes traffic enforcement very challenging.”
The grant will provide overtime for officers to conduct traffic enforcement for various infractions such as speeding, impaired driving, distracted driving and not wearing a seat belt.
“We receive traffic complaints on a daily basis. Through education and enforcement we can lessen the traffic complaints and make our roadways safer,” Pacunas added.
The grant period begins on Dec. 1 and runs through Sept. 15, 2024.
Pacunas said, “It feels good to receive this grant. We are excited to be able to dedicate more patrols to focus on the numerous traffic complaints that we receive.”
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