When I look at myself objectively, I have to laugh at my stubborn belief that those in power have the best interests of the general public in mind.
You’d think that by now I would have learned to be suspicious and watchful of everyone who makes decisions on behalf of the rest of us. On a national and international level, I am fairly cynical — appropriately so, I believe. Here in my own hometown of Great Barrington, Massachusetts, however, I have been trusting of the state and local authorities to do what’s best for our little community.
It’s true that I did not attend the many hearings and town meetings that laid the groundwork for the renovation of our Main Street. I trusted our elected officials and the state engineers to execute a smart, well-thought-out redesign of Main Street for the 21st century.
As the strange granite curbs went up, creating obstacles where none had previously existed, I tolerantly withheld judgment. I was prepared to accept the loss of the convenient turning lanes for Bridge Street and Taconic Avenue. I looked forward to the plantings of new trees, and the much-needed traffic light at Elm Street.
But then one night last week, as I drove through town, I was shocked to see the huge silver traffic light towers that had sprung up overnight at each intersection. They looked like leftovers from the Big Dig in Boston, suitable for a super highway but totally out of proportion for our quaint little town.
Next, I noticed the enormous street lights, double the height of the small, faux-antique lights that stood inconsequentially beside them. It was like a mash-up of Olde London with Mad Max. These are the kind of street lights you find illuminating major highways near major cities. They are completely out of place on the Main Street of Great Barrington, supposedly the #1 small town in America.
I would be willing to cry mea culpa for not having attended all those many planning board and select board and state review board meetings at which the plans for the Main Street redesign were discussed. But then I hear from other town residents who did make the effort to go to the meetings and voice their concerns, complaining that no one was willing to listen to them.
“The town voted to accept state funds on the recommendation of the Selectboard,” said Housatonic resident Carol Diehl. “At least at the meetings where I was present, [they] were clearly not interested in any other viewpoint. But even I, who was vocally opposed, could not anticipate this outcome. I thought maybe it would be too utilitarian or ‘suburban’ — but it’s worse, much worse. I cannot believe the state mandated the alternating tall shiny metal and short black ye olde lamp posts, for instance, nor the awkward planting areas in the sidewalks that will make it impossible in the winter to get from a parked car to the sidewalk without walking with traffic in the street to the next corner. And we haven’t even discussed plowing yet!”
I have to wonder whether anyone attending the town planning meetings was able to visualize from the engineers’ blueprints just how big and ugly these street lights and traffic light towers would be. I know that for me, hearing the height and circumference of the poles would have been unlikely to set off my warning bells. An artist’s rendition of the plan might have given me cause for alarm, since these towers are so clearly out of proportion to the rest of the street. However, the only visual plan I have been able to find on the town’s website is this one, which gives no indication whatsoever of the giant size of the street light towers.
There’s no point in casting blame or reproach now. The question is, can anything be done to rectify these mistakes? In his column last weekend in The Berkshire Eagle, resident Alan Chartock suggested that the town government explore the possibility of taking down the super highway poles, and erecting others more suitable for a small town main street. Obviously, Chartock said, this could only be accomplished “at great expense to the town”—and this is a town that has refused over and over “to support a desperately needed renovation of its high school.”
I would like to hear from our state and local officials, including our elected representatives in the state Legislature, why these hideous poles were approved for little Great Barrington. Yes, our Main Street is also a state highway. Yes, we gladly accepted state funding to help us with needed repairs. But is it in anyone’s best interests, including those of the state of Massachusetts, to turn a quaint little tourist-attraction town into, in the words of one irate citizen, a Paramus, N.J., strip mall?
Where there is a will, there is a way to remedy this unfortunate error. Last weekend the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center celebrated its gala 10th anniversary, and attendees were reminded that the theater exists today in its current resplendent form only because a dedicated group of citizens devoted time, money and intelligence to its renovation and renewal as the town’s pre-eminent cultural institution. Such dedication may again be called for in rectifying the thoughtless, tasteless mishandling of our beloved Main Street by public officials.
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The weekly EDGE WISE column is curated by Jennifer Browdy, Ph.D., associate professor of comparative literature, gender studies and media studies at Bard College at Simon’s Rock and the Founding Director of the Berkshire Festival of Women Writers. Women writers interested in publishing in EDGE WISE can find writers’ guidelines on the Festival website, or may submit queries or columns to Jennifer@berkshirewomenwriters.org
