BRPC Kicks Off Road Safety Action Plan with Public Information Sessions

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) federal funding program is bringing resources to Berkshire County to reduce serious injuries and fatalities on our roads, with the goal of reaching zero.

Berkshire Regional Planning Commission (BRPC) is kicking off this effort under the banner of their STEPS Initiative: the Safe Travel and Equity Plan for our Streets, and will soon begin the data gathering process.

To help answer the question of how we prevent more people from experiencing traffic crashes in the future, BRPC is inviting residents of Berkshire County to share their experiences that might not be found in a statewide database.

Input will help shape the priorities of the STEPS Comprehensive Safety Action Plan. This Action Plan will open the door for future funding for recommended construction or programs. The planning team will offer three opportunities to attend in-person or virtually this month (the meetings will be identical in content):

• Thursday, June 20, North Adams: Terra Nova | 85 Main Street | 12:00 – 1:00pm
• Thursday, June 20, Dalton: Dalton Public Library | 462 Main Street | 5:30 – 6:30pm
• Friday, June 21, Great Barrington: State Road Firehouse | 37 State Road | 10:00 – 11:00am

Spanish language interpretation will be available on Zoom for the June 20 meeting at 5:30. To join any meeting via Zoom, you must pre-register for the one you wish to attend at: berkshireplanning.org/initiatives/ss4a/

At the meetings, the planning team will present the background and need for this study and the data gathered so far. Berkshire residents are invited to provide their perspectives and experiences on how they feel about road safety in their communities. Specifically, the planning team wants to know:

• How has the real or perceived risk of injury affected the way you travel? Do you choose not to take a trip by foot or bike? Not travel after dark?
• What neighborhoods have been historically underserved by our transportation system, and overly represented in injuries and fatalities?
• Where have you seen risky situations or behavior that might not show up in statewide crash data?
• How can we most effectively encourage safer behaviors on a regional scale?

Residents are also encouraged to participate in a 5-minute online survey that will help to build the Action Plan. Take the survey at surveymonkey.com/r/SS4A. The survey will remain open through the summer. Learn more about the STEPS Initiative project at  berkshireplanning.org/initiatives/ss4a/.

Pittsfield Council Says 'Yes' to Soccer at Crane Park

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
06:35AM / Saturday, June 13, 2026

The pitch will have the logos of the city and the US. and Massachusetts soccer associations. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The city is gladly accepting a "mini-pitch" from the U.S. Soccer Foundation to bring games back to Crane Park. 

Fueling excitement around the World Cup, U.S. Soccer has been working with the Massachusetts Youth Soccer League to make these facilities available to 20 communities — one of which will be at the park at the intersection of Benedict Road and Springside Avenue. 

The City Council accepted the gift on Tuesday during its regular meeting. 

A mini pitch is a compact, modular field typically used for soccer, and it can also accommodate inline skates. It has a galvanized steel border with built-in goals and a rubber plastic surface that is clicked together; installed on the existing inline hockey court. 

Ward 2 Councilor Cameron Cunningham said he has gone door to door speaking with nearby residents, and they are "really excited" about the upgrade. He also sees it as a great addition. 

"They say that nobody really uses the court a ton now, and they are excited to see kids back on there playing," he said. 

Decades ago, the Crane Park facility was a wading pool. It closed in 1980, and before the turn of the century, it was filled in and marked for hockey. 

Parks, Open Space, and Natural Resources Manager James McGrath explained that the wooden border around the rink is showing its age, has been vandalized and tagged, and the facility is seeing a "real decline" in use. 

"This would seem to be an appropriate spot for us to remove the board system that's in place and install the mini pitch system through this grant," he said.