Great Barrington Receives Shared Winter Streets And Spaces Grant

Print Story | Email Story
BOSTON — Great Barrington received $137,310 in Shared Winter Streets and Spaces grants from MassDOT to construct the Old Route 7 Greenway.
 
The shared use path will improve pedestrian and bicycle safety along Route 7/Stockbridge Road, link two community centers, and complete the last link of a 2.5-mile loop of the Fountain Pond State Park/Three Mile Hill trail system.
 
The Shared Winter Streets and Spaces program provides grants as small as $5,000 and as large as $500,000 for municipalities to quickly launch changes for safer walking, biking, public transit, recreation, commerce, and civic activities. These improvements can be intentionally temporary or can be pilots of potentially permanent changes.  MassDOT is particularly focused on projects that respond to the current public health crisis and provide safe mobility for children, for elders, to public transportation, and to open space and parks.
 
Great Barrington received a portion of the $2,805,194.22 MassDOT dispersed in the fourth round of funding from the Baker-Polito Administration’s Shared Winter Streets and Spaces program. The program, which was launched on Nov. 10, provides technical and funding assistance to help Massachusetts cities and towns conceive, design, and implement tactical changes to curbs, streets, and parking areas in support of public health, safe mobility, and renewed commerce, with a special focus on the particular challenges of winter.
 
The awards will provide funding to 17 municipalities and two public transit authorities for 19 projects. 58 percent of the awarded municipalities are designated Environmental Justice communities and 79 percent are considered high-risk for COVID-19 infections.  53 percent of the recipients have never received a Shared Streets and Spaces award before.
 
Since the inception of the program in June of 2020, the Commonwealth has invested $21.1 million in municipal Shared Streets projects.

Tags: great barrington,   

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

MassDOT Project Will Affect Traffic Near BMC

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Prepare for traffic impacts around Berkshire Medical Center through May for a state Department of Transportation project to improve situations and intersections on North Street and First Street.

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.

BMC and Medical Arts Complex parking areas remain open and detours may be in place at certain times. The city will provide additional updates on changes to traffic patterns in the area as construction progresses.

The project has been a few years in the making, with a public hearing dating back to 2021. It aims to increase safety for all modes of transportation and improve intersection operation.

It consists of intersection widening and signalization improvements at First and Tyler streets, the conversion of North Street between Tyler and Stoddard Avenue to serve one-way southbound traffic only, intersection improvements at Charles Street and North Street, intersection improvements at Springside Avenue and North Street, and the construction of a roundabout at the intersection of First Street, North Street, Stoddard Avenue, and the Berkshire Medical Center entrance.

Work also includes the construction of 5-foot bike lanes and 5-foot sidewalks with ADA-compliant curb ramps.  

Last year, the City Council approved multiple orders for the state project: five orders of takings for intersection and signal improvements at First Street and North Street. 

The total amount identified for permanent and temporary takings is $397,200, with $200,000 allocated by the council and the additional monies coming from carryover Chapter 90 funding. The state Transportation Improvement Plan is paying for the project and the city is responsible for 20 percent of the design cost and rights-of-way takings.

View Full Story

More Great Barrington Stories