Williamstown Launches AlertWilliamstown

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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Town of Williamstown has launched AlertWilliamstown, a new mass notification system powered by Regroup, replacing CodeRED as the Town's official platform for emergency alerts and community notifications.
 
AlertWilliamstown delivers fast, reliable, location-specific alerts directly to residents' phones, email, or text — keeping the community informed and prepared when it matters most, stated a press release. The system will be used to notify subscribers about emergencies, severe weather events, and important town announcements.
 
The system is administered by the Town's Communications Department in partnership with the Williamstown Police Department and the IT Department.
 
Residents who were previously signed up for CodeRED do not need to re-register — most subscriber information has already been transferred to AlertWilliamstown. However, former CodeRED subscribers are encouraged to log in and review their contact preferences to ensure they are receiving alerts through their preferred channels.
 
All residents, employees, and students who are part of the Williamstown community are encouraged to sign up. No password is required to register; a password is only needed to download the optional mobile app or to update notification preferences. Residents without a mobile phone may also sign up using a landline.
 
To sign up or manage your account, visit https://williamstownma.gov/alertwilliamstown/
 
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Williamstown Studying Major Overhaul for Main Street

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
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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