North Adams Overpass Study Holding Community Event

Print Story | Email Story
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The North Adams Route 2 Overpass Study will host its third community engagement event on Thursday, July 10, from 5 to 7 p.m. 
 
This event, referred to as a Community Visioning Session, will take place in person under the tent in Courtyard A on the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art campus. 
 
The study is funded through a federal grant under the Reconnecting Communities Pilot Project. It has been looking at options to repair, replace or restore the deteriorating Veterans Memorial Bridge that carries Route 2 over the Hoosac River. The favored option is to eliminate the massive overpass, redirect traffic up West Main and recreate a semblance of 1960s North Adams.
 
The goal is to "reconnect" the downtown to the north side, including the museum and its thousands of visitors, and to create more pedestrian friendly movement, green space and areas for development. 
 
The community is invited to join the study team for a presentation of project updates and design concepts, and to share their thoughts and questions. This is the final opportunity for the public to give comments before the study team provides recommendations. 
 
Participants are encouraged to visit the online project platform here further information.
 
For those unable to attend the community visioning session, interactive activities and opportunities for input can be found on the project website.

Tags: downtown,   feasibility study,   mass moca,   overpass,   

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

Northern Berkshire United Way: 1970s Has Its Ups and Downs

By Tammy Daniels iBerkshires Staff

The Northern Berkshire United Way sets its highest goal yet in 1979, and the first time going over $200,000. 
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Over three decades, the Northern Berkshire United Community Services had raised some $3 million for its affiliated agencies. 
 
That number was announced that the organizations "fifth" annual meeting in 1974, marking the time since Adams had joined, and counting the funds raised by the North Adams Community Chest and the North Adams and Adams United Funds and Northern Berkshire United Fund. 
 
The report that year was dedicated to past 24 volunteer campaign chairs, of whom 17 were still in the area and three — Russell Lanoue, George Higgins and G. Churchill Francis — had since died.
 
The amount of money raised seemed significant for the time, but the united fund found itself struggling in the early '70s as the economy dipped and its the need for its services grew. 
 
The campaign in 1970 saw an ambitious goal of $184,952 to support 16 agencies, with Northern Berkshire Child Care as the latest addition. The drive kicked off that goal at the Midway with Chair George Bateman, but it reached only 80 percent of its goal by the end. 
 
Batemen said it might not be a financial success but "I believe it was a spiritual success" because of the hard work and enthusiasm of so many drive volunteers.
 
But President Henry Pierpan said there would be allocation cuts for 1971 despite "a substantial sum" voted from reserve funds.
 
View Full Story

More North Adams Stories