MassDOT Launches Comment Period for FY26-FY30 Capital Investment Plan

• $1.07 billion for the Cape Cod Bridges Program.
• $1 billion for the Chapter 90 Program. 
• $424 million for the I-90 Allston Multimodal project.  
• $321 million for the I-195 to Route 18 interchange rehabilitation in New Bedford. 
• $204 million for the ongoing I-90/I-495 interchange improvements in Hopkinton and Westborough. 
• $198 million to replace the Kernwood Avenue Bridge over the Danvers River and the Hall-Whitaker Drawbridge in Beverly and Salem. 
• $254 million to support the Rourke Bridge replacement in Lowell.   
• $157 million to replace the I-391 Bridge over Chicopee Street in Chicopee. 
• $148 million to advance projects that support West-East Rail. 
• Funding for bicycle and pedestrian investments throughout Massachusetts, such as $42 million for Lawrence-Manchester rail trail construction in Lawrence.  
• Funding for local roadways and bridges, such as $11 million for the reconstruction of North Road and Damon Pond Road in Chesterfield. 
• Investments in Massachusetts’ public use airports, such as $15 million for runway reconstruction for the Beverly Regional Airport.  

• Send comments by email to: MASSCIP@state.ma.us.  
• Explore projects and provide comments online using the CIP Comment Tool: https://gis.massdot.state.ma.us/dataviewers/projectviewer/   
• Mail comments in writing: Manager of Capital Planning, MassDOT Office of Transportation, 10 Park Plaza, Suite 4150, Boston, MA 02116.  
• Participate in one or more of the six regional CIP informational public meetings listed below. Register in advance of the meeting at www.mass.gov/CIP.  While each meeting presentation will primarily highlight investments in a specific region, the public is welcome to comment on any aspect of the CIP. 
  • Cape Cod and Islands Region: May 28, 2025, 4 p.m., virtual.   
  • Boston Region: May 29, 2025, 6 p.m., virtual. 
  • Central Massachusetts Region: June 2, 2025, 4 p.m., virtual. 
  • Western Massachusetts Region: June 3, 2025, 4 p.m., virtual.  
  • Old Colony and Southeastern Massachusetts: June 5, 2025, 6 p.m., virtual.  
  • Northern Middlesex and Merrimack Valley Region: June 9, 2025, 6 p.m., virtual.  

Pittsfield Remembers Lives Lost to Overdose, Underscores Harm Reduction

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
05:33AM / Tuesday, September 01, 2026

Mayor Peter Marchetti reads a proclamation at City Hall encouraging residents to raise awareness and lift each other up. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Dozens of people gathered downtown on Monday to remember those lost to overdose and work toward a future of zero deaths from substance use disorder. 

The Berkshire Overdose and Addiction Prevention Collaborative and its partners held a proclamation reading and flag-raising at City Hall, followed by a standout in Park Square with signs promoting the use of naloxone, harm reduction, and reducing associated stigma. 

There were 23 fatal overdoses in Berkshire County in 2025, 11 in Pittsfield. This is down 44 percent from the 41 countywide fatalities in 2024. 

While it is a significant decrease, advocates want to see that number at zero. 

"On the one hand, we're very pleased to see this significant of a decrease. This is actually the lowest number that we've had since [Department of Public Health] started collecting these numbers in 2013, but the goal is still zero," said Andy Ottoson, public health planner with the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission. 

August is International Overdose Awareness Month, the world's largest annual campaign to end overdose, remember those lost without stigma, and acknowledge the grief of families and friends left behind. September is National Recovery Month, a national observance to educate the public on the importance of substance use treatment and mental health services.

Samantha Kendall of Berkshire Harm Reduction explained that it is truly meeting people where they are, as they are, and when they are, "and I think we all do a really great job at that."

"We also want to remember that we're building a community for everybody, and systems and policies for everybody. That's really important in harm reduction work, so that's also the reason we're here today," she said.