Pittsfield Queries Residents for Upcoming Safety Action Plan
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The city wants to know where people feel unsafe on the roads as it works to develop a safety action plan and traffic-calming program.
There have been almost 100 crashes in Pittsfield over the last five years that resulted in death or serious injury.
"The City of Pittsfield, MA, envisions a multi-modal transportation system that promotes a safe, livable, and connected community for all residents and visitors," the SAP vision statement reads.
"In support of Pittsfield's commitment to the Safe System Approach, the City commits to reducing annual fatal and serious injury crashes to zero on local roads by 2035."
On Wednesday, the Department of Public Services and Utilities hosted an open house on Pittsfield's upcoming safety action plan.
On bulletin boards at Hot Plate Brewing Co., community members saw an overview of the project. They were encouraged to mark intersections they find problematic and traffic calming measures they feel could apply.
"I think my hope is that at the end, we have a defined process that residents can steer," City Engineer Tyler Shedd said.
"Right now, a lot of it relies on ward counselors, elected people, and they have really short terms, and so projects and priorities can shift a lot, but residents are here for, we hope, life."
Pittsfield received federal "Safe Streets and Roads for All" funding to develop a Safety Action Plan and Traffic Calming Program that will guide future transportation safety investments.
Commissioner of Public Services and Utilities Ricardo Morales explained that the project has three parts: the Transportation and Safety Action Plan, a Traffic Calming Toolkit, and a pilot installation down the road.
The city is in the initial stages of data gathering for the safety action plan and transitioning to the public input phase. The toolkit will establish the "rules of the road," per se.
Between 2020 and 2024, there were 4,429 reported crashes in Pittsfield, with an average of 846 crashes per year. Just over two percent of those reported resulted in a fatality or suspected severe injury.
In the past five years, there have been almost 100 fatal or severe injury crashes in the city. Pittsfield would like it to be zero; it is part of the Berkshire County STEPS Action Plan with a goal of zero traffic deaths and serious injuries in Berkshire County by the year 2040, also known as "Vision Zero."
The planning process began in the fall of 2025 and is expected to wrap up this summer. Under this timeline, a draft SAP will be completed in September, and the plan will be adopted in January 2027.
There will be additional public input opportunities in the SS4A process over the summer. More information about the project can be found on the Safety in the Heart of the Berkshires and the city websites.
Tags: community forum, road safety,
