Williamstown Finalizes Torrey Woods Road Utility Pole Plan

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
05:17AM / Thursday, August 21, 2025Print Story | Email Story

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Select Board Monday OK'd a plan for new utility poles on Torrey Woods Road after hearing that the residents who originally raised questions were satisfied with the final configuration.

In a special, single-item meeting, the board wrapped up a public hearing that began in July.

Last Monday, at the first continuation of the hearing, the board left with a sense that the property owners on both sides of the road that would be impacted were close to an agreement.

This week, National Grid's Nicholas DeRosa was back before the board.

"At the meeting last week, we discussed a possible third option to shift Pole 2 away from the guard rail and shift Pole 1 further east," DeRosa said. "After looking at that in the field, we determined the first solution, the original plan, would be the best course of action."

The new poles are necessary to continue utility service to 88 Torrey Woods Road, a lot where a new home is under construction. The owners of neighboring 150 Torrey Woods Road brought their concern that Pole 1 was set to be installed directly in front of their home.

Chair Stephanie Boyd confirmed that the residents of 150 Torrey were part of the site visit DeRosa made last week and mentioned that the agreed upon plan is a little east of the house.

"I ran into Kristy Edmunds [one of the 150 Torrey owners], and she told me she was good with this plan," Boyd told her colleagues. "Plan No. 1 in the meeting packet from last week is the one we are going with."

Boyd, Peter Beck and Matthew Neely, who attended the special meeting, voted, 3-0, to approve that plan.

"I want to thank Nick DeRosa from National grid and all the homeowners who were thoughtful and respectful about their concerns and their neighbors' concerns," Boyd said. "I think the process worked well."

Tags: utility pole,

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Williamstown Studying Major Overhaul for Main Street

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
05:14AM / Wednesday, July 29, 2026

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The town is working with a Worcester civil engineering firm to redesign Main Street with an eye toward a major project sometime in the next decade.

Community Development Director Andrew Groff was before the Select Board on Monday night to talk about Town Hall's use of a $500,000 state grant to do preliminary design on major improvements to that portion of Route 2 that runs from Water Street west to the Field Park rotary, through the middle of Williams College's campus.

Groff introduced the elected officials to Amanda Bazinet of Worcester's Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, who is helping the town to develop a plan for Main Street that would align with the commonwealth's Complete Streets Program.

"Our project goals, in addition to the increased pedestrian and bicycle accommodations, is just, in general, improving the sightlines and improving the intersection geometry," Bazinet said.

"Complete Streets … has a lot of different facets to it. As Andrew had mentioned, the goal is to improve the safety for all of the roadway users — not just the motorists. We're looking at improving it for pedestrians, bicyclists, anyone using a mobility device. We want to create streets that are safe for all ages and abilities to use. So, while bicyclists will still be allowed, legally, to use the roadway, we want to look at providing a separate bicycle accommodation along the corridor, whether it's a shared use path along both sides of the streets that is a little more accessible to young children or older people with disabilities to look at all transportation options."

One goal is to encourage "active transportation." The Massachusetts Department of Transportation, who the town hopes one day might fund the construction, has a "healthy transportation policy," Bazinet said.

That MassDOT funding would come through the Transportation Improvement Program, which is managed locally by the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission. The design work underway now is being done with an eye toward going after TIP funding years down the road.

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