State funding could help Wareham design a new rotary to Onset and coastal path between the Tremont Nail Factory and Besse Park.

The Select Board voted unanimously to authorize its chair to write letters of support for two state grant applications for the potential town projects.

Town Planner Ken Buckland presented the projects to the Select Board during Tuesday night’s meeting. He'll be applying to a state grant program that could fund the design of the path and rotary.

The two projects, if approved, would transform some of Wareham’s infrastructure. One would create a coastal path that would link the Tremont Nail Factory with Besse Park, following the bank of the Wareham River. The other would replace the convoluted intersection of Depot Street, Minot Avenue, Onset Avenue and Great Neck Road with a rotary.

The two projects were among five initially pitched by officials and were chosen following feedback from the state and local officials.

The other projects that were considered for the grant program were rezoning at Wareham Crossing, installing signage at the Wareham Industrial Park and improving Sandwich Road’s climate resiliency.

Buckland said he sees the coastal project as being completed in phases, with the first phase determining how to create a safe railroad crossing.

“That’s one project we’d like to see funded by the state,” he said. “Then when we get to the waterfront, we can decide what we want to do.”

Discussions of a boardwalk along the river date back to at least 2013.

The second project would see a rotary installed at one of the busy intersections on the way to Onset. It’s possible the project would take multiple seasons of construction during non-peak times, Buckland said.

The planner acknowledged how busy that intersection gets, especially as tourists fill town during peak season. Making the “somewhat confusing” intersection more organized, he said, could help make it safer and smoother.

The board voted unanimously to ask Chair Judith Whiteside to write letters in support of the projects, which are necessary for the grant application.