PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The city of Pittsfield is requesting public input for its draft Bicycle Facilities Master Plan.
The plan aims to establish a safe, comfortable and connected bicycle network throughout the city that is accessible to people of all ages and abilities.
"With this project, the City of Pittsfield is taking a significant step in its steadfast commitment to plan and implement a safe and accessible citywide network for people who bike for various reasons to a range of destinations throughout Pittsfield," City Planner CJ Hoss said. "The development of this master plan will be a collaborative process, and we are seeking to hear from the community."
The master plan will allow the city to develop a long-term citywide vision for a bicycle network and grow beyond a "one-street-at-a-time" planning approach, Hoss said. The city has retained Kittleson and Associations Inc., a nationally renowned transportation focused consulting firm, to lead this project.
"The project team is excited to embark on the planning process to develop the plan and engage various stakeholders and community members to create an equitable and connected bicycle circulation plan," he said.
The project team has identified the following project goals and objectives:
Develop a citywide plan based on transportation, land use, and demographic factors;
Prioritize plan recommendations for full-scale build out over time;
Recommend bicycle facility types for preferred and alternative routes in the network; and
Identify complementary bicycle facilities such as bicycle racks, maintenance stations, and bike-share stations.
A link to the plan has been provided on the city website that includes an interactive map and public survey. The link will be available until Oct. 30.
A public meeting will be held via Zoom at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 21; a link will be posted on city's web page during the week of Oct. 12.
Beginning in the early 2000s, the city started to design and implement bicycle facilities with the redesign of North Street to include sharrows (a shared lane marking) and dedicated bike lanes. This effort was followed by the reconstruction of Elm Street with dedicated bike lanes and sharrows.
More recently, the city has adopted a Complete Streets policy and is currently redesigning Tyler Street to add bicycle facilities. Through the adoption of the Complete Streets policy, the city successfully leveraged state Department of Transportation's Complete Streets program to prioritize projects and secure funding.
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Central Berkshire School Officials OK $35M Budget
By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
DALTON, Mass. — The Central Berkshire Regional School Committee approved a $35 million budget for fiscal 2025 during its meeting on Thursday.
Much of the proposed spending plan is similar to what was predicted in the initial and tentative budget presentations, however, the district did work with the Finance subcommittee to further offset the assessments to the towns, Superintendent Leslie Blake-Davis said.
"What you're going see in this budget is a lower average assessment to the towns than what you saw in the other in the tentative budget that was approved," she said.
The fiscal 2025 budget is $35,428,892, a 5.56 percent or $1,867,649, over this year's $33,561,243.
"This is using our operating funds, revolving revenue or grant revenue. So what made up the budget for the tentative budget is pretty much the same," Director of Finance and Operations Gregory Boino said.
"We're just moving around funds … so, we're using more of the FY25 rural aid funds instead of operating funds next year."
Increases the district has in the FY25 operating budget are from active employee health insurance, retiree health insurance, special education out-of-district tuition, temporary bond principal and interest payment, pupil transportation, Berkshire County Retirement contributions, and the federal payroll tax.
The students have also been able to build friendships and experience new things, such as dancing for community events, taking a trip to Ireland and participating in competitions.
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Because of this, traffic will be reduced to one lane of travel on First Street (U.S. Route 7) and North Street between Burbank Street and Abbott Street from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday through at least May 6.
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Independent Connections officially unveiled its Massachusetts branch on Thursdsay with a ribbon cutting. The IT solutions company's specializations include consulting, cloud computing, and cybersecurity.
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Taylor Garabedian scored a team-high 22 points and grabbed five rebounds, and Abby Scialabba scored 16 points for the ‘Canes, who got 16 points, nine rebounds and four assists from Ashlyn Lesure. click for more