Deerfield receives $500K for Elm Street improvements

Long-dormant plans for Elm Street upgrades are soon coming to the village, as Deerfield received a $500,000 Complete Streets grant. Town Administrator Christopher Dunne, pictured, picked the project up when he joined Deerfield as its town planner in 2023.

Long-dormant plans for Elm Street upgrades are soon coming to the village, as Deerfield received a $500,000 Complete Streets grant. Town Administrator Christopher Dunne, pictured, picked the project up when he joined Deerfield as its town planner in 2023. STAFF FILE PHOTO/PAUL FRANZ

By CHRIS LARABEE

Staff Writer

Published: 02-04-2025 11:20 AM

SOUTH DEERFIELD — Long-dormant plans for Elm Street upgrades are soon coming to the village, as the town received a $500,000 Complete Streets construction grant.

The money will fund a project that was laid out in a series of initiatives developed in 2020 that were sidelined by the pandemic and left on the shelf as the town undertook other projects, according to Town Administrator Christopher Dunne, who picked the project up when he joined Deerfield as its town planner in 2023.

The project will see the construction of a 10-foot-wide shared-use path with plantings on the north side of Elm Street and a crosswalk on the south side from the Leary Lot entrance to where the Hotel Warren is. Other improvements include curb ramps, flashing beacons and bicycle racks. Work will be between the boundaries of the railroad tracks and the four-way intersection by the town common.

“To me, the big highlight is really the wider sidewalks and that will necessitate a transition to parallel parking,” Dunne said, noting that while on-street parking may be reduced, the Leary Lot is open behind Elm Street. “I think it’s a great project for a downtown and I’m looking forward to working with our business owners. We want to work with them because it’s economic development as well.”

Dunne said Deerfield was eligible for the $500,000 in construction funding because then-Town Administrator Diana Parsons, who now serves in the same role in Colrain, submitted the preliminary planning, which was then refined at a community open house in September. Deerfield is working with the Tighe & Bond engineering firm on the project.

More funding will be required to complete the project, though, as Dunne noted at the Jan. 22 Select Board meeting that the total cost is about $650,000. The grant must be used by Dec. 31, 2026.

“There’s always the age-old question,” he said at the meeting. “Do you wait and try to cobble together more funding and watch the prices rise or do you try to [go] quickly?”

Dunne added that the town will reach out to the Capital Improvement Committee and Finance Committee for further analysis. Select Board members said they are interested in moving the process forward.

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“I’d hate to pass up $500,000,” said Select Board member Trevor McDaniel, noting that stabilization funds could be an option.

In the meantime, the town will continue to work with Tighe & Bond to flesh out finalized designs. Dunne expects the incoming town planner will take the reins on the project and bring it to the finish line. The town expects to fill the vacant position in the coming weeks.

As streetscape improvements, as well as a possible resurfacing of Elm Street by the Deerfield Highway Department, prepare to move forward, Dunne said this project ties into the ongoing municipal campus and walkability initiative the town has undertaken in previous years.

The Leary Lot was opened to the public in the fall, the Tilton Library expansion is expected to be complete this summer and the cornerstone project, the 1888 Building’s rehabilitation and addition, is expected to begin this year, too. Dunne said the Elm Street work might also be an opportunity to chip away at town common improvements as well, which have stalled in recent years, as the state owns Sugarloaf Street.

“This is sort of the next domino to fall after the Leary Lot was completed,” Dunne said Tuesday. “We’re also looking at whether the town common can benefit from this as well. We think there might be an opportunity to do portions of the work on town property and move that along as well.”

Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com.