Berkshire County Urged to Stay Home During Monday Nor'Easter
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Students and non-emergency municipal workers are home on Monday as the region is deals with another Nor'easter.
Commissioner of Public Services and Utilities Ricardo Morales estimated that there was about 8 inches of accumulation around 10:45 a.m., and another two or three inches are expected. All of the main routes are covered by contractors and in-house staff, with support from the water division.
"Wind is critical right now," Morales said. "That's the biggest problem we have ahead of us is wind driven conditions that may be difficult for people to drive on the road."
The city has 19 contractors. There are still seven vacancies in the highway division, as well as one individual out on sick leave; four additional contractors with larger plows and road treatment capabilities were hired to fill the gap.
Parking restrictions are in effect from 7 a.m. on Sunday to 7 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 24. Residents are asked to use off-street parking whenever possible and follow alternate side parking regulations if they need to park in the street:
- Between 7 a.m. Sunday and 7 a.m. Monday: Park on the even-numbered side of the street.
- Between 7 a.m. Monday and 7 a.m. Tuesday: Park on the odd-numbered side of the street.
The McKay Street parking garage is free through Tuesday at 7 a.m.
During the last storm, Pittsfield had to tow about 30 vehicles obstructing the plowing route. Morales reported that the city has towed a few cars during this storm, and that people should be parking on the odd side of the street on Monday.
"It's not bad. There's still definitely a few streets with parked vehicles all over the place," he said.
"What we want with this is getting people to still be able to park on the road, but be organized in a way that we can more effectively plow the street."
Pittsfield Public Schools declared a snow day, and the Mercer Administration Center was also closed. Berkshire Community College and the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts also closed their campuses and cancelled classes.
The Pittsfield Police Department warned people of dangerous travel conditions and limited visibility, and said motorists are "strongly urged" to stay off the roads unless travel is "absolutely essential" to let plows and emergency vehicles operate safely.
Tuesday's ribbon-cutting on the new ice rink at Wahconah Park has been postponed.
Pittsfield closed City Hall, and the Berkshire Athenaeum also called a snow day. Surrounding towns also closed their municipal buildings, including Dalton, Lanesborough, and Lenox.
The Berkshire Regional Transit Authority has canceled all bus service for Monday. The Massachusetts Trial Court is also closed for the snow day, and all affected court events will be rescheduled.
On Sunday, Gov. Maura Healey addressed the upcoming storm from the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency bunker in Framingham.
"This is one to take seriously," she said about the storm. "… Please stay off the roads for your safety and for the safety of the folks who are out there trying to clear the roads, keep power on, and keep people safe."
Healey declared a state of emergency in Massachusetts, activated the emergency operations center, activated around 200 National Guard members, and called a remote work day for all non-emergency state employees. She suggested the rest of the state do the same.
"Tomorrow is going to be cold. We're going to see wind chill factors really, really low," she said about Monday's conditions.
"Stay indoors. Check on your neighbors. Check on elderly neighbors and residents, make sure that they have what they need. And we are expecting significant power outages."
The Berkshires appears to have missed the brunt of the storm. It is still blizzard conditions for eastern and especially southeastern New England. Tens of thousands of customers are without power and the National Weather Service in Boston is reporting up to 2 feet of snow in some areas and wind gusts of 83 mph recorded in Nantucket.
On Monday afternoon, the governor signed an executive order banning non-essential motor vehicle traffic in Bristol, Plymouth and Barnstable counties because of dangerous road conditions. The speed limit on the Mass Pike was reduced to 40 mph.
Pittsfield's Department of Public Services provided an 8 a.m. update on snow operations over Facebook, explaining that the storm did not ramp up until 3 or 4 a.m. when contractors were called in. At the time, it was hard to measure accumulation because of the wind gusts, but anywhere between 3 and 7 inches was measured, and another 4 inches was expected before noon.
"All neighborhood sectors are covered between staff and contractors although some have double assignments which will cause our response time to be stretched longer," the department wrote.
"A special thank you to the community for limiting unnecessary travel today when possible. If you do have to travel today, please use extreme caution and give yourself extra time to get to your destination. We appreciate your cooperation as we continue to plow and treat the roads."
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