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The consultants have developed a number of options for the roadway.

Pittsfield Seeks Input on Tyler Street Streetscape Plans

By Andy McKeeveriBerkshires Staff
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One of the options includes creating a protected bicycle lane. 
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The city is determining what Tyler Street will look like in the future.
 
After months of working on conceptual designs and working with stakeholders, officials are now taking the vision for a streetscape plan to the wider public.
 
Consultants BSC Group will present various concepts for bicycle lanes, expanded sidewalks, and pedestrian safety measures on Thursday at 6 p.m. at Morningside  Community School.
 
Five concepts have been drawn up and for residents to prioritize.
 
"We've been hearing the same things for a few years. We really want to see dedicated bus stops. We want safe bike facilities, safer pedestrian crossings. We want cars to slow down. And we want to do that without sacrificing parking," City Planner CJ Hoss said.
 
The city allocated capital money for a design a few years ago. MassDevelopment approved the Morningside area as a "Transformative Development Initiative" zone and dedicated a staff member to focus on ways to redevelop the street. That's included a number of planning projects but also the rollout of a storefront improvement projects. This year the city used the capital funds to hire BSC to develop the plans. 
 
"This has been in the works for the last few years. After getting through multiple planning projects through TDI, we felt we really had good groundwork and now best in position to use the resources that were put aside as capital funds a few years ago," Hoss said.
 
Hoss said five options have been crafted, and two have seemingly become the most important. The concepts range from installing protected bike lanes, where bikes would travel between the parked cars and the curb, to eliminating parking on the north side to make for more sidewalk space, to doing a shared track for the bike lane, to adding bumpouts to shorten the crosswalks.
 
"There is an opportunity to look at multiple modes of transportation and try to improve it," Hoss said.
 
The road, however, isn't going to be widened so there is only so much the city will be able to do with a renovation to the road. So the city is holding the meeting on Thursday as well as taking feedback through a MassDevelopment website dedicate to help prioritize planning. 
 
"We've heard people really care about all of these different things and we can't accommodate them all the maximum extent. So if we get feedback on what the priorities are, maybe something rises to the top," Hoss said.
 
Hoss said he hopes to have BSC complete the conceptual plan in early 2019 and then have design and have construction documents drawn up. And eventually, it will mean renovations to the long commercial corridor with construction likely be done in phases.
 
"The next step is coming up with a preferred option and developing that into more detail. Ideally, we would like to see this project wrapped up by first quarter of 2019 so then we can start thinking about construction and construction documents," Hoss said.
 
A renovation to Tyler Street has been years in the making. Once North Street's streetscape was finished, the city pivoted the focus to Tyler Street. 

Tags: public hearing,   streetscape,   tyler street,   

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Pittsfield CPA Committee Funds Half of FY24 Requests

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A few projects are not getting funded by the Community Preservation Committee because of a tight budget.

The projects not making the cut were in the historic preservation and open space and recreation categories and though they were seen as interesting and valuable projects, the urgency was not prevalent enough for this cycle.

"It's a tough year," Chair Danielle Steinmann said.

The panel made its recommendations on Monday after several meetings of presentations from applications. They will advance to the City Council for final approval.  

Two cemetery projects were scored low by the committee and not funded: A $9,500 request from the city for fencing at the West Part Cemetery as outlined in a preservation plan created in 2021 and a $39,500 request from the St. Joseph Cemetery Commission for tombstone restorations.

"I feel personally that they could be pushed back a year," Elizabeth Herland said. "And I think they're both good projects but they don't have the urgency."

It was also decided that George B. Crane Memorial Center's $73,465 application for the creation of a recreational space would not be funded. Herland said the main reason she scored the project low was because it didn't appear to benefit the larger community as much as other projects do.

There was conversation about not funding The Christian Center's $34,100 request for heating system repairs but the committee ended up voting to give it $21,341 when monies were left over.

The total funding request was more than $1.6 million for FY24 and with a budget of $808,547, only about half could be funded. The panel allocated all of the available monies, breaking down into $107,206 for open space and recreation, $276,341 for historic preservation, and $425,000 for community housing.

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