Middleboro has applied for a $1.3 million MassWorks grant to redesign Everett Square and will hold a public hearing Wednesday, October 12, 2011 from 5:00 PM  to 6:30 PM in Town Hall to present two proposals: a round-about or reconfiguring the five roads that feed the square.

Planning Director Ruth M. Geoffroy said the state will award the grant by the end of the month. If the town is successful, work will begin next spring and wrap up by the end of 2012. Geoffroy said business owners and residents should attend the hearing and give their input.

In addition to improvements at Everett Square, the new grant would also fund work at Center and Oak streets and on East Main Street at the former Winthrop Atkins factory that is being converted into condominiums. Geoffroy said the streets in both areas will be reconfigured to give drivers better visibility. She said there are plans to narrow a portion of East Main Street to slow down traffic to handle the influx of new homes at the factory.

Update: The state has rejected the town’s bid for a $1.3 million Mass Works grant to reconfigure Everett Square and three other roads in the downtown area. Along with Everett Square, the grant was to fund work at Center and Oak streets and on East Main Street at the former Winthrop Atkins factory that is being converted into condominiums. The streets were to be reconfigured to give drivers better visibility. In 2009, the town also failed in its bid for a $1.5 million grant for Everett Square.

Sources: Enterprise News, October 9, 2011 and The Enterprise, November 29, 2011