Looking Back at Irene: Mohawk Trail

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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — One of the Twitter hashtags iBerkshires frequently used in describing some of the damage around the county was #Irenebrokemyroad. That was never so true as in the case of Route 2.

by the numbers
• Excavation: 37,000 cubic yards
Trench excavation: 28,000 cubic yards
Channel excavation: 50,000 cubic yards
Fill deposited: 78,000 cubic yards
Rip rap installed: 78,500 tons
Gabion walls erected: 5,300 cubic yards
Stabilized slope construction: 12,000 square yards
Steel piles driven: 2,300 feet
Soldier pile & lagging walls: 1,000 feet

Some 13 miles of the historic Mohawk Trail was buried, broken, washed away, undermined or otherwise made impassable after the passage of Irene. The damage left small towns along the state highway isolated, their residents forced to take long detours to reach schools, stores and hospitals. It cut off North Berkshire from I-91 and Greenfield.

It also disrupted the important fall foliage season for tourists, shops and motels and delayed the ability of some to begin college classes on time.

Word was the highway wouldn't open for at least a year, maybe two.


On Friday, Sept. 30, just a month after the storm, state officials pledged to get the road restored by Dec. 15. They beat that deadline by two days.

The massive effort, costing around $23 million, was recognized on Monday, Aug. 27, as the American Public Works Association's Public Works Project of the year. The total cost for repairing the containments along the Cold River along with the highway, bridges and slopes was expected to be more than $36 million.

The Mohawk Trail was just the biggest project; dozens of smaller roads and culverts were damaged, particularly in the higher elevations.

According to our reports at the time, MassDOT listed more than 25 separate, damaged road locations, including along Route 2, Route 8, Route 20, and Route 112. The Massachusetts Turnpike also sustained damage.

A map of the closed roadways show a north/south pattern along the county's eastern edge and into neighboring Franklin, Hampden and Hampshire counties.

Sections were being repaired that day, or waiting for the waters to recede or, in some cases, for months. Some are still not fully repaired a year later, including Crest Street in North Adams, East Road Bridge in Clarksburg and the Charles Street Bridge in Adams. All three locations were topics in recent articles as local officials have sought ways to fund or engineer their replacements. 

Overall, Western Mass. received some $41 million in federal aid for infrastructure repairs related to Irene.
 

 


Tags: Irene,   MassDOT,   Mohawk Trail,   

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North Adams Hosting Route 2 Overpass Study Walks

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The city of North Adams is hosting three community walks this week to solicit input on a study of the 60-year-old Central Artery project. 
 
The focus is on the deteriorating Veterans Memorial Bridge that carries Route 2 and connections between the downtown and Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art. The site visits will be led by Openbox, a community-centered design partner for the study, in collaboration with the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition 
 
The community walks will be held on one evening and two mornings:
 
Wednesday, Nov. 13, from 4:30 to 6 p.m.
Thursday, Nov. 14, from 7:30 to 9 a.m.
Friday, Nov. 15, from 7:30 to 9 a.m.
 
The walks are open to all and attendees are asked to register here and indicate and accessibility needs.  Attendees should arrive within the first hour and plan to spend between 30 to 45 minutes in total during the 90-minute timeframes.
 
Meet at the UNO Community Center on River Street for a self-guided site walk around the Route 2 overpass and
return to the center for conversations about people's everyday experiences moving to, through, and around Route 2 and North Adams.
 
The city, in conjunction with Mass MoCA, has received a federal Reconnecting Communities grant of $750,000 for a planning study. North Adams was one of only 46 communities out of 450 applications to receive a grant; the $1 billion pilot program is part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act. 
 
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