Pittsfield Rolling Out Final North St. Reconstruction; Parking Management
 Jon Dietrich outlined the 25 percent design on Wednesday night. |
The city was awarded $4.5 million through the state MassWorks program to complete the multiyear project to improve pedestrian safety, the appearance, and the functionality of the city's main downtown road.
On Wednesday, engineer Jon Dietrich of Fuss and O'Neill presented to the public the 25 percent design of the final section, which will span Madison Avenue to Columbus Avenue.
"It is a continuation of the city's streetscape plan that was done a number of years ago ... Our intent is to get this [design] done so we can bid it in May," Dietrich said.
The next phase caps off a decadelong process that started with the development of a downtown master plan in 2005. The construction first started at Park Square and headed to Housatonic Street for a cost of $1.8 million, which was done in conjunction with the redevelopment of the Colonial Theatre.
Park Square itself followed for $3.4 million, which eliminated the rotary that once circled the island. The project then went south of Housatonic Street for about more than a mile was renovated for $6 million. New traffic lights were installed at Housatonic Street for $1.5 million.
The second phase was coupled with the redevelopment of the Beacon Cinema in 2012 for $3.8 million in a section that spanned from Park Square to Columbus Avenue.
The third phase is nearing completion and spanned from Berkshire Medical Center to Madison Avenue, at a cost of $2 million. Meanwhile, the two pocket parks — Sottile and Persip — at the intersection of Columbus Avenue are being reconstructed for about $900,000.
"It will take more than one construction season," Dietrich said of the fourth phase. "Most of the work will be in the sidewalks as opposed to phase three."
Drivers will notably remember a section of North Street being torn up for most of the summer as the pavement was completely reconstructed at the intersection of Wahconah Street. Dietrich said the pavement in the last section doesn't need as extensive repairs.
"There is going to be much less of an inconvenience to the merchants," he said.
The plan replicates a lot of what was done in the previous sections with some changes to fit the landscape. The crosswalks will feature bumpouts intended for pedestrian safety — a move that will reduce the distance a pedestrian walks in traffic by 14 feet. The plan also includes bike lanes.
Medians with planters and wrought-iron fences to help direct pedestrian traffic will be placed in some sections. The sidewalks will be repaired and will be feature planters and rain gardens. The fences were a welcomed aspect of the plan for Ward 7 Councilor Anthony Simonelli.
"With the fences by the Colonial, people have to use crosswalks and can't cross wherever," Simonelli said.
While jaywalking was a concern for Simonelli, Ward 2 Councilor Kevin Morandi was concerned with loitering on the benches and planters.
"The complaints I've heard is there are a lot of people sitting there, congregating, and doing things they shouldn't be doing," Morandi said, encouraging Dietrich to look into designing the planters in a way that they can't be sat on.
However, that conflicts with the goals of the project, said Dietrich. The plan is to design the street for pedestrian use and that means giving places for people to sit and congregate.
"We're not trying to discourage people from sitting there," he said.
At the intersection of Melville Street, the left turn only lane will be eliminated to straighten out a "kink" created in partnership with the Barrington Stage redevelopment and subsequent elimination of two-way traffic on Union Street.
The crosswalk at Bradford Street will be altered to prevent conflicting interactions between cars and pedestrians. The four-way intersection of North, Linden, and Maplewood will operate much the same but feature new signals and equipment.
The wide open entrance to Rite Aid Pharmacy will be separated and closed down to change the traffic flow. And new lighting is proposed throughout the section.
 Director of Community Development Douglas Clark outlined the parking management plans. |
"A lot of what you are going to see is the lighting up of North Street," said landscape architect Jon Allard.
The plan does eliminate five parking spots, dropping the number of spots in that section from 93 to 88, Dietrich said. Throughout the rest of the engineering, the company will try to work more spaces back into the plan. There will still be four handicapped parking spaces, but resident William Sturgeon suggested the engineers add more.
"Right now for us, for Pittsfield, we have to look at it," Sturgeon said, citing that the city is "aging."
Meanwhile, the city's Community Development Department is working on a $500,000 project to implement new parking management. The management was required in part of a grant to renovate the McKay Street garage for $6.5 million.
That money is mostly looking to purchase high tech metering equipment and signage, according to Director Douglas Clark.
"There is a lot of parking but it isn't always in places that are the most convenient," Clark said.
The city is only filling 62 percent of the available downtown parking at any given time, according to the consulting firm Nelson Nygaard that studied the issue. The parking plan places a higher price tag on "premium" spots and lower prices for others. The goal is make on-street parking worth more and push others toward the unused parking areas, which will be more inexpensive.
"There is not going to be a time limit," Clark said. "As long as you put enough money in, you can stay as long as you want."
The city is looking at multispot meters that feature technology that could even allow customers to pay via cell phone. The meters will accept credit card and cash as well. The city has narrowed the purchase down to two vendors. The cost is expected to be 75 cents an hour for on-street and 50 cents for the secondary lots. The top of the McKay Street garage will be free.
There will be no designation between permitted spots and metered spots.
Other technology being looked at is license plate readers to help boost billing should a car park in a garage and not pay. The readers and cameras will snap photos of the vehicle and be able to send a bill to the owner.
New signs are also being ordered to help direct visitors to the available parking and Clark hopes that eventually Google maps will be able to display the lots.
"We're looking at rolling this out in the fall," Clark said.
Around Thanksgiving is when Clark envisions implementing the new plan and giving residents a six-week grace period to learn the system, which will last through the holidays.
Tags: MassWorks grant, North Street, parking meters, streetscape,
