BRPC Studies Traffic On Pittsfield's East Street
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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Berkshire Regional Planning Commission is recommending that when the city widens East Street, a three-lane configuration would be sufficient.
The city has wanted to reconstruct East Street from Fourth Street to Merrill Road since 2001. In 2003, the state Department of Transportation accepted it as a project and it went to a public input meeting in 2004.
That hearing saw strong opposition to widening the road between Elm Street and Silver Lake Boulevard. To alleviate concerns, the project dropped that section and narrowed it down to just the section from Merrill Road to Silver Lake Boulevard
The Merrill Road section is at 25 percent design phase and, according to the MassDOT website, construction is expected in 2017. The project would cost about $6.3 million.
But county planners are already taking a look at what to do with the rest of East Street.
BRPC has recently finished a traffic study and looked the possibilities of a three-, four- or five-lane set up from Lyman Street to Fourth Street. The study showed that a three-lane system would be sufficient to handle peak traffic 20 years into the future.
"All three-lane configurations provide adequate service for all five intersections," said Anuja Koirala, transportation planner, when she presented the study this week to the Transportation Advisory Committee.
The three-lane system from the Elm Street intersection would have a middle turn lane and two through-traffic lanes. But even then, there will need to be changes made to the Lyman Street and Elm Street intersections.
Planners are recommending that an extra lane be added for drivers heading northbound on Elm Street intersecting with East Street.
"There were a high number of accidents reported at the Fourth Street/East Street intersection," Koirala said.
Currently, there are three lanes at Elm — one for to taking a dedicated left onto the two-lane East Street westbound, a second for drivers to continue left in the outside lane or go straight across to Fourth Street and a righthand-only lane to head east on East Street.
Planners are recommending adding a fourth lane to have two dedicated lanes for drivers taking the left, a straight lane for those heading to Fourth Street and retaining the righthand lane to head east.BRPC is also recommending that the Fenn Street intersection be realigned and signalized.
"The Fenn Street intersection, right now it is at an acute angle, and that would be aligned perpendicular with East Street," she said.
Three streets off East before reaching the intersection — Whipple, Cove and Lyman — could be controlled with stop signs. Lyman Street would also have a right-turn only lane for northbound traffic.
Koirala added that on East Street, there has not been an issue with speeding, so the 35 mph is "appropriate at this time."
The project is still a long way out but the study is one step toward a plan to build public consensus for the eventual project.
Tags: Berkshire Regional Planning Commission, intersection, road project,
