ORLEANS – The town of Orleans was awarded a $1.5 million state grant for the Main Street roadway improvements and the support of the Village Center District.
The MassWorks Infrastructure Program grant will be used to reconstruct the street between Route 6A and Route 28 and build on work already being done at the two intersections for improvements for cars, bicyclists and pedestrians.
“There’s a lot of interesting things already in the Village Center of Orleans and there’s opportunities around that Village Center for economic development,” said Jay Ash, the Housing and Economic Development Secretary.
The project will build on the work being done by MassDOT at both intersections with Main Street and allow for improvements in Village Center for cars, bikes and pedestrians.
“We hope that this grant will help to tie in the work that is already being done on 6A and Route 28 and create a more vibrant downtown,” Ash said.
Along with the roadway reconstruction, the town will add streetscape improvements such as streetlamps, benches, public art landscaping and sidewalk repairs.
Ash said Orleans Center is the economic hub of the Outer Cape and that further investment in the area will allow for an economic expansion in other towns.
“Promoting a strong downtown in that economic center allows for people to get excited about coming in and investing there, shopping there, recreating there and then they find their way out to places beyond the core,” Ash said. “That is our strategy in terms of encouraging investment.”
Since 2015, the Baker-Polito Administration has awarded more than $275 million in MassWorks grants to support about 140 projects in 106 communities.
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