Londonderry Trailways, in partnership with the Town of Londonderry Planning Dept, was awarded a grant of $550,000 to build a paved path/sidewalk from the Londonderry Middle School all the way around and beyond the Mosse Hill Kindergarten.  This grant was jointly written and submitted by Londonderry Trailways and the Town of Londonderry in August 2001 - a great example of successful public/private partnership.  In July, 2002, we were notified that our grant was chosen for award.  The CMAQ or Congestion Mitigation & Air Quality grant program gives federal money to the States to distribute to alternative transportation projects via a competitive grant process. This program has been available since ’91 and covers 80% of a project’s cost.

Our “School Pathway Project” is part of Londonderry’s town-wide Bike/Pedestrian Master Plan, which identifies many areas in town that should have biking and walking improvements.  The paved multi-use pathway will run adjacent (but primarily not attached) to the roadside.  It will start near Mammoth Road by the Londonderry Middle School, up past the High School, past Mathew Thornton Elementary School, around the corner onto Pillsbury Road, past the Moose Hill School and down to the bottom of the hill where the path will cross the brook. The project also includes improvements to existing crosswalk visibility and existing traffic signals in the immediate area thereby allow safer access to the Town Common, the Leach Library, the Nelson Road Athletic Fields, and nearby neighborhoods, (Otterson/Kings and Wilshire).

The total project cost, including planning, engineering, construction and 3 years of inflation is $680,000.  The grant will provide us with $550,000!  Due to the States distribution mechanism, the money will not be available until 2005.  The remaining 20% is to be provided locally, by donations via Trailways fundraising and/or Town budget.  For every $1000 we raise locally we are getting $4000 of Federal money that would otherwise go to another town.  Even though LT helped co-author the proposal, the grant itself is much too large for LT to oversee. Therefore, the Town of Londonderry will administer this grant