BILLERICA 一 Chief Roy Frost is pleased to announce that the Billerica Police Department has been awarded $65,000 in grant funding to improve road safety.

The $65,000 grant funds were made available by the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security (EOPSS) and allocated by the Office of Grants and Research (OGR). This funding will be used to support the Municipal Road Safety Program, which assists in developing enforcement strategies to reduce roadway crashes, injuries, fatalities, and associated economic losses in Massachusetts.

The Billerica Police Department will use the funds to increase traffic enforcement campaigns in six target areas including impaired driving, seat belt enforcement, speed enforcement, distracted driving, pedestrian and bicycle safety. Additional funds will be used for car seat safety checks, and to focus on enforcement around crosswalks in town to improve pedestrian safety.

“The key to pedestrian safety is enforcement of vehicles’ failure to yield, speeding and red-light violations,” said Traffic Safety Sgt. Glen M. Magnan. “Educating drivers on bicycle and pedestrian safety is a key part of this grant funding. Police will conduct targeted enforcement at crosswalks throughout town and have conversations with pedestrians on measures they can take to avoid unsafe situations.”

The funding was also used to purchase equipment, including two hand-held radar units for the Motorcycle Unit, a hand-held LIDAR unit, and two pole-mounted speed-detecting radar signs.

“This grant will provide funding to add important traffic safety patrols and efforts above and beyond those we already make to keep our roadways in Billerica safe,” said Chief Frost. “We are grateful for this support. Unsafe drivers be warned, Billerica Police will be on patrol.”

About the FY 2023 Municipal Road Safety Grant Program

The Office of Grants and Research (OGR) allocated $5,000,000 in Fiscal Year 2023 grant funding to municipal police departments within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The grants are designed to provide substantial flexibility in addressing local traffic safety issues, allowing funding beyond enforcement to include equipment options and developing novel traffic safety programs.