image description — The heavy rain damaged Route 116, which the town says it can't afford to fix.

Cheshire Storm Damage Estimated at $1 Million

By Jack GuerinoiBerkshires Staff
04:02AM / Saturday, June 28, 2014Print Story | Email Story

A massive hole on Route 116 has closed traffic along the state highway. Photos courtesy of Brent Lancia.

CHESHIRE, Mass. — Cheshire officials are estimating it will cost nearly $1 million to repair roads damaged by Wednesday night’s storm.

Selectmen Chairwoman Carol Francesconi said Route 116 received the brunt of the damage. More than half the road is sunken in near Clairmont’s Farm, and the hole is 8 to 10 feet deep, she said, with the guard rails hanging in midair.

Cheshire is definitely responsible for repairing $20,000 in damage to Windsor Road and damage to other back roads, but the town is in discussions over who is responsible to pay for restoring Route 116: Cheshire or the state.

"The town does not have a million dollars to repair roads with, and we need to get some emergency assistance from the state," Francesconi said.

Francesconi said Cheshire has close to $426,000 in its stabilization account but free cash cannot be used because it must be certified after July 1.

If the town receives state aid, it could possibly get the roads reconstructed in one to two months. However, she said this was the "best case scenario."

Cheshire officials have met with the representatives from the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency and has contacted the state Highway Department and the Department of Environmental Protection.

Francesconi said it is critical to get Route 116 up and running as soon as possible because it is a much-used road.

"I don’t think people realize how much traffic Route 116 gets," she said. "We have a lot of truck traffic coming off of Route 2 and all of the people of Savoy and east Cheshire depend on that road and they can't use it now."

The highway is closed between Henry Wood Road and Stewart White Road, east of Hoosac Valley High School.

Despite the damages, Francesconi is thankful no one got hurt and is confident Cheshire will pull through.

"I can't believe the damage that water can do … and we are very lucky that no one was driving over the road when it caved in but," she said. "I have no doubt that we will come together and fix it somehow."

Tags: bad weather, road work, storm damage,

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Hoosac Valley Hears Educational Study Process, Timeline

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
11:50AM / Tuesday, August 25, 2026

CHESHIRE, Mass. — The Hoosac Valley School Committee got an update Monday on the North Berkshire Education Sustainability Study, now two months into its yearlong process.

This was the first school committee presentation, with the second planned for the North Adams School Committee on Tuesday. The Steering Committee will meet publicly at Mount Greylock Regional School on Wednesday at 5 p.m.

The study is investigating the state of secondary education in North Berkshire, its challenges and potential restructuring. It covers Hoosac Valley, North Adams Public Schools, Mount Greylock and the Northern Berkshire School Union.

Jake Eberwein, project lead with consultant Berk12, explained that baseline data would gathered over the next several months including through community forums to be held in late fall.

"We're not here to audit or evaluate," said Eberwein. "Our goal is to collect, curate and share it. Of course, there's always a process where, as a researcher, you have to decide how to share it and organize it, and that can certainly have a bias in itself. We're going to do our best and work with the subcommittees."

The data will include New Ashford and Hancock because even though they are not participating in the study, they tuition their students to North Berkshire schools, but not Rowe because it sends its high school students to Mohawk Trail Regional School.

"The charge really is to evaluate sort of the long-term sustainability option for the four districts that are involved in the project," Eberwein said. "It's really mostly about how do we provide the best quality, highest quality education for students in Northern Berkshire County, in light of the fact that there are some pressures: shifting enrollments, demographic shifts, and ongoing fiscal pressures."

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