GUILDERLAND — A $52,500 grant will fund a study to develop a strategic neighborhood plan for the Westmere Corridor.

Guilderland will supplement the grant with $18,000 of its own.

The corridor, according to the town’s grant writer, Donald Csaposs, runs from the bottom of Fuller Road, up Western Avenue to Route 155.

“This is a follow-up study to the Guilderland Comprehensive Plan,” said Csaposs.

A public meeting about the study will be held on April 30, from 7 to 8:30 p.m., at the Westmere firehouse at 1741 Western Ave.

“We are still working with a broad brush, so it’s important for people to come out and have their voices heard,” said Csaposs.

The study is being funded through the Capital District Transportation Committee’s Linkage Program, which is an integrated land-use and transportation-planning program. Its goal is to provide local communities with financial assistance for planning with an emphasis on projects that support innovative transportation and land-use concepts.

Csaposs said the study on the Westmere Corridor is the sixth — and last — one in Guilderland under the Linkage Program.

“These are envisioning studies,” he said. “It’s a look at what’s possible in the future.”

The project includes six tasks: completion of a land-use and transportation-system assessment; public meetings; a land development or redevelopment plan; an access management and streetscape safety improvement strategy; pedestrian and bicycle facilities and transit improvement strategy; and implementation and funding strategy.

A Study Advisory Committee has been established, consisting of members from the CDTC, the state’s Department of Transportation, the Capital District Transportation Authority, and the Capital District Regional Planning Committee.

The town has also selected a team of consultants, led by IBI Group of Albany, with River Street Planning and Development of Troy, and T.R. Johnson Engineering of Albany.

Csaposs said the consultant team is working hard to get the word out about the upcoming public meeting, and is seeking input from residents, businesses, municipal leaders, and local service providers.

Western Avenue is, according to early evaluations by the team of consultants, “a critical transportation asset,” and has the potential for a larger role for transit, walking, and bicycling.

“This is just about looking at what might be possible,” said Csaposs. “Of course some things would be impossible to achieve.”

The timeline for the study, he said, includes composing a draft of the neighborhood plan after the public meeting on April 30, and holding a second public meeting in the fall before composing the final draft.

The study is expected to be complete by the end of 2015.