2024 Regional Transportation Plan Under Development

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Berkshire Regional Planning Commission (BRPC) has begun work on developing the next Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) for Berkshire County. 
 
The RTP has a 20-year planning horizon and is updated every four years. The plan serves as the County's overarching transportation planning document and is required to ensure the region remains eligible to receive federal transportation funding. The RTP employs a systematic approach to evaluate the performance of the transportation system, to identify "needs" or deficiencies in the system, and to develop solutions that best address any existing gaps to meet the region's needs.
 
Berkshire County residents are invited to give their input to help develop the RTP.
 
Three public information sessions have been scheduled to provide an opportunity to learn more about the RTP purpose, process, and products. The first will be held at the Berkshire Athenaeum in Pittsfield on Wednesday Nov. 2, from 5:30-6:30pm. 
 
The second will be held at the North Adams City Hall on Thursday Nov. 10, from 5:30-6:30pm. The third session will be held on Tuesday Nov. 16, at the Great Barrington firehouse from 5:30-6:30pm. All meetings will also be broadcast live as a
Zoom webinar. Spanish interpretation for these webinars is available by request.
 
 

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Dalton Considers Digitization of Records

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
DALTON, Mass. — The town is exploring digitizing its records to improve documents organization and accessibility, while reducing the need for physical storage space.
 
Digitization and storage is an issue that the town encounters, more often than they would like, and has become increasingly apparent through the ongoing work of the Stormwater Management Commission, Chair Thomas Irwin told the Select Board in April.
 
"[The commission has] repeatedly struggled to determine what documents exist, access past commission records, and identify a secure searchable location for records we continue to generate," he said. 
 
Currently, the town's Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) documents are primarily stored on a Google documents account managed on a Berkshire Regional Planning Commission computer and, to a lesser extent, the stormwater management webpage, Irwin said.
 
"For obvious reasons, this is concerning. As Dalton moves toward full MS4 compliance, both the number and the size of these records will increase," he said.
 
He estimated that the stormwater commission alone will initially store at least 50 documents, but the issue extends farther than this department. 
 
"Recently, the Planning Board spent many hours searching for the east of the pond drawing and the 1992 land court decision related to Crane and Company, Petricca Industries Inc., and the Town of Dalton," Irwin said. 
 
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