NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The inconvenient Jersey barriers jutting out into a section of Beaver Street are being removed after four years. 

 

The cement blocks had been put in place after a mudslide knocked sizable boulders into the road. 

 

"The geologists from the state said they feel it's pretty stable now," Public Services Commissioner Timothy Lescarbeau told the Finance Committee last week. "We're going to have one row up on the curb but the center line will be shifted back."

 

Four years ago in April, a rainstorm had caused the collapse of the steep hillside just south of the Clarksburg town line. The road, Route 8, runs between the slope and the North Branch of the Hoosic River and is a heavily traveled connector highway to Vermont. 

 

The highway was closed for nearly a week between Bluff Road and the city line while the crews cleaned up the rock and mud debris. The barriers were put in place to shift traffic away from the slope that was considered unstable. 

 

The city had expected to take on the repairs to stabilize the hillside to prevent more debris from falling. The highway, Route 8, through that section falls within the city's scope of responsibility; had it occurred in a few yards away in Clarksburg, the state would have been responsible. 

 

No significant deterioration has happened in the four years since the first slide. Lescarbeau said the barriers will be kept along the curb as a precaution, for now, to keep any falling rocks from tumbling into the road. The lane lines will be shifted back into their original positions. 

 

The barriers have been intrusive because of the placement in the northbound lane but there have caused no incidents. It was not clear when the barriers would be moved.