RAMINGHAM – Congresswoman Kathryn Clark has submitted funding requests for 10 community projects in her 5th congressional district to the House Appropriations Committee, including funding for a trail in Framingham.

Under guidelines issued by the Appropriations Committee, each U.S. Representative may request funding for up to 10 projects in their community for fiscal year 2022 – although only a handful may actually be funded.

Mayor Yvonne Spicer had made 7 requests to Congresswoman Clark. They included:

  1. Route 135 Grade Separation
  2. ADA Remediation Work
  3. ADA Transition Plan
  4. Bruce Freeman Rail Trail
  5. Chris Walsh Memorial Aqueduct Trail Connectivity Project
  6. Framingham Community Center
  7. Joint Dispatch Center

Among Congresswoman Clark’s 10 submissions was $220,000 for the Chris Walsh Memorial Aqueduct Trail Connectivity Project in south Framingham.

The funding would be used for the design development, final design and permitting process for the Chris Walsh Aqueduct Trail Connectivity Project.

Once constructed, this project will provide thousands of residents in the Downtown Framingham area, primarily from environmental justice neighborhoods, with direct access to this recreational corridor and opportunity to enjoy open space.

The City is committed to furthering the legacy of the late State Representative Chris Walsh by providing all its residents with access to beautiful open space. The late state representative was a huge advocate for trails in the community and died of cancer in May 2018.

A collaborative between Framingham State University and MassBay Community College was also among the 10 submissions. The Congresswoman requested $594,000 for the MetroWest Scholars Early Start in Waltham.

The funding would be used for Framingham State University (FSU) and Massachusetts Bay Community College (MassBay) to scale their MetroWest Scholars Early Start Early College Project to reach underserved youth and families in the community of Waltham.

The program will be delivered in partnership with Waltham Middle and High School, the MetroWest College Planning Collaborative (CPC), and dual enrollment courses from both FSU and MassBay.

This project will build a robust Early College program in Waltham to create pathways to college completion and economic stability for the City’s ELL, first generation, newcomer, and underserved populations.

Congresswoman Clark also submitted a $1 million project from the Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center Interpreter Services Program. Based in Worcester, the Center also has a location in Framingham.

“The funding would be used for Kennedy Community Health’s interpreter services program to address the language needs of the underserved communities of MetroWest and Central Massachusetts. As a Federally Qualified Health Center, Kennedy Community Health aims to provide quality, accessible and affordable health care to anyone in need. With a patient population that is predominantly low-income, as well as ethnically, linguistically, and culturally diverse, achieving health equity is at the core of their mission. As the area’s only provider of refugee health assessments, Kennedy Community Health has become the medical home for individuals who speak over 92 different languages, making the interpreter services program vital to their ability to communicate with their patients and provide high quality care.”

Other projects submitted by the Congresswoman for Fiscal year 2022 Community Project Funding include:

  • $400,000 for the Charles River Flood Model for the Charles River Watershed Association, Inc. in Weston to support stormwater management and completing designs on specific nature-based solutions that the Charles River Flooding Model demonstrates to be effective at managing stormwater and increasing climate resilience in numerous Charles River watershed communities. Developing riverine models to help address the impacts from increased rain events and runoff is a priority in the Massachusetts Integrated State Hazard Mitigation and Climate Adaptation Plan.
  • $262,500 for the Hurld Park Green Infrastructure Project in Woburn
  • $3.36 million for the Malden Lead Line Replacement Program
  • $750,000 for the Mystic and Charles Regional Coastal Flood Interventions Project to reduce the risk of coastal flooding to nine vulnerable communities in the Boston area: Arlington, Belmont, Boston, Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Malden, Medford, and Revere
  • $280,000 for the Waltham Embassy Parking Lot Project
  • $500,000 for the Wellington Greenway project, Phase IV
  • $4 million for the Wonderland Multimodal Connector in Revere

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Original story here.