The project includes underground stormwater chambers to eliminate the standing water problems which exist in the lot now.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The First Street parking lot is set for a rehabilitation.
The city awarded Maxymillian Construction the contract to overhaul the 241-space municipal lot. Parking kiosks are planned to be installed.
According to Commissioner of Public Services David Turocy, the construction is expected to start when weather allows this spring and conclude by June 30.
"We expect the project to be done in two phases, roughly the equivalent number of parking spaces in each, to allow some continued use of the parking lot during construction. Parking kiosks will be installed at the end of the project," Turocy wrote in an email.
The winning bid was $846,214.50 and the work entails a lot. Turocy said two underground stormwater chambers will be installed to eliminate the standing water problems in the lot now. New overlighting is planned. There will be pedestrian accessibility improvements to the entrances along First Street. And there will be some changes to the curbing and island to improve transportation flow, although there will not be any significant alterations to the parking layout.
At the end, the entire lot will be resurfaced. As soon as the project is completed, the city will install the same parking kiosks as on North Street and the McKay Street garage.
Currently, the First Street lot is a mix of parking options. A large number of the spaces are allocated for permit parking, other spaces are 90-minute parking, and yet others are 3-hour parking. The city has been rolling out metered parking since January. While most of the municipal lots and North Street are currently eyed for meters, the side streets are not planned to be metered at this time.
The spring construction season may be a bit away but the First Street lot is just one of multiple road projects the city is lining up for the season. Last week, Turocy submitted the plan for road repairs, which the city will be using both city and state funds for, to do repairs on 10.21 miles of roads. That plan was sent to a City Council subcommittee for review.
"We intend to repair 10.21 miles of roadway, utilizing a variety of pavement management techniques, similar to the mix we did last year. The work is spread out over all seven wards in the city, and includes 2 City properties, the roadway into Burbank Park, and Utility Drive to the Waste Water Treatment Plant. The latter will be paid for by Public Utilities enterprise funds," Turocy wrote.
That plan also comes with what may be a particular sigh of relief from city residents because it includes eliminating the left lane closure on North Street near Berkshire Medical Center. During the streetscape project the two northbound North Street lanes merged right after Orchard Street, and then a left turn lane opened for Wahconah Street. The plan there is to eliminate the closure and keep North Street a two-lane road.
On the other end of Wahconah Street, the city is looking to remove some curbing on Wahconah to create a right turn lane for those traveling southbound on North to Wahconah.
The other roads eyed for some repairs are: Lenox, Cromwell, Worthen, Bossidy, Crestview, Hurley, Allen, Federal, School, Plastics, Ridgeway, Edward, Cambridge, Marian, Foote, Strong, Marlboro, Appleton, Nancy, Broad, Bartlett, Oswald, Chapel, Taconic, Fort Hill, Robert, Wilson, Watson, Calumet, McArthur and Utility Drive.
In total, $2.6 million is eyed for the 2017 road repair program.
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Pittsfield Celebrates Robert 'Bob' Presutti on Arbor Day
By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
Bob Presutti, right, is presented the Hebert Award in 2017 for his volunteer efforts at Springside Park. He died in 2023 at age 88.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A tree has been planted next to the Berkshire Athenaeum in honor of local "giant" Robert Presutti.
Officials celebrated Arbor Day on Friday by installing a commemorative plaque next to the American elm sapling. This is a tree that James McGrath, the city's park program manager, said Presutti would have been particularly proud of.
"Today is a day where we yes, celebrate trees, but today is also a day where here in the city we intentionally try to acknowledge the good work of folks in our community who spend their time and their efforts and their talents to make Pittsfield a more beautiful place," he said to a crowd of about 20 people.
"Today we are honoring a longtime community volunteer named Bob Presutti. I'm sure a lot of you here know Bob and know his contributions to the city, not only when it comes to trees and parks but also to the Retired Senior Volunteer Program."
The longtime volunteer passed away last year at the age of 88. He contributed more than 10,600 hours to RSVP and had great impacts on the Parks Department over the years from sharing his knowledge and talents to ensuring that workers were safe when working on trees.
"This morning I went through my emails to see how many emails Bob Presutti sent me since the year 2001 when I started with the city. Bob Presutti sent me 14,000 emails and nearly every single one of those was about trees," McGrath said, prompting laughter and smiles from attendees.
One thread struck him as particularly important because it showed Presutti's empathy when it comes to the safety of city workers while caring for trees.
"There were multiple emails from Bob about the need to get the Parks Department maintenance guys into a program learning about chainsaw safety and learning about ladder safety. He was really into making certain that our city workers were well cared for and had all of the instruction that they needed and in fact, he even offered his own time and services after he became certified to teach our city workers," McGrath said.
Officials celebrated Arbor Day on Friday by installing a commemorative plaque next to the American elm sapling. This is a tree that James McGrath, the city's park program manager, said Presutti would have been particularly proud of.
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Albert Ingegni III was applauded for four decades of service on the Zoning Board of Appeals during City Council. Mayor Peter Marchetti presented him with a certificate of thanks for his commitment to the community.
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Between disagreements about site design and a formal funding process not yet established, more time is needed before a decision can be made.
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The Ordinances and Rules subcommittee on Monday unanimously supported a pay raise for election workers, free downtown parking for veterans, and safeguards to better protect wetlands.
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