Pittsfield's New Road Bridge to Reopen Friday

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The reconstructed New Road Bridge will reopen to traffic Friday, May 7.
 
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation announced Thursday that the newly reconstructed New Road Bridge located over the West Branch of the Housatonic River will be reopened to traffic in the late afternoon on Friday, May 7. 
 
The bridge was closed on Feb. 26, 2020, to allow crews to replace the existing bridge and upgrade existing utilities.
 
The cost of the bridge rehabilitation project is $1,734,102. The contractor for the project is JH Maxymillian.
 
The temporary span was installed in the 1990s over a failed culvert.
 
The new 67-foot single-span precast, prestressed concrete NEXT, or Northeast Extreme Tee, beam superstructure will be supported by a cast-in-place reinforced concrete abutments. The new bridge will also be wider with a 28-foot roadway width providing two 10-foot-wide traffic lanes and two 4-foot-wide shoulders that will also accommodate pedestrians. 
 
Roadway work included the construction of full-depth asphalt pavement for approximately 134 feet of the westbound and 130 feet of the eastbound approach to the bridge. There are no sidewalks on the bridge or approach roadways.
 
 

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Toy Library Installed at Onota Lake

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Feel free to use or leave a toy at Onota Lake's newest infrastructure meant to foster community and benefit kids.

Burbank Park now has a toy library thanks to Wahconah Regional High School senior Alexandra Bills. Located along the wall at the beach area, the green and blue structure features two shelves with sand toys that can be used to enhance children's visits.

The Parks Commission supported Bills' proposal in February as part of her National Honors Society individual service project and it was installed this month. Measuring about 4 feet wide and 5.8 feet tall, it was built by the student and her father with donated materials from a local lumber company.

Friends and family members provided toys to fill the library such as pails, shovels, Frisbees, and trucks.

"I wanted to create a toy library like the other examples in Berkshire County from the sled library to the book libraries," she told the commission in February.

"But I wanted to make it toys for Onota Lake because a lot of kids forget their toys or some kids can't afford toys."

Bills lives nearby and will check on the library weekly — if not daily — to ensure the operation is running smoothly.  A sign reading "Borrow-Play-Return" asks community members to clean up after themselves after using the toys.

It was built to accommodate children's heights and will be stored during the winter season.

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