I would like to see us give the roundabout a fair hearing. It might just be that traffic engineers (and drivers all around the world) know what they’re doing.
“I don’t think anyone should be under the illusion that changes at this point [in the Main Street Reconstruction Project] will be without a cost to the town.”
-- Sean Stanton, chair of Great Barrington Selectboard
We are the stewards of our community, and every decision we make matters. Letting our high school slide into disrepair…letting the character of our Main Street be lost.
NO PARKING on Main Street from cottage to St. James/Taconic Avenue Wednesday or Thursday from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m., during the hours that paving will occur.
In his letter to the editor, Chris Blair of Monterey writes: The new treeless Main Street in Great Barrington, with its pole-punctuated, sodium-pink illumination, is like some Gregory Crewdson image of a dystopian moment.
Two-way traffic and access to businesses will be maintained at all times. Police officers will be present at all locations to direct traffic and ensure traffic flows smoothly in all directions.
"After hearing about the 8-year-old boy in Adams who was stuck and killed in a 35 mph zone this week, it really drives home just how much difference a little bit of speed can make when it comes to hitting a child or pedestrian. Most of the cars racing by my house right now are going really, really fast.”
-- Dana Coleman of Great Barrington, who lives on Taconic Avenue
It is a particularly nasty stretch. There are several intersections, so amid speeding cars are those that also slow down to make turns onto streets or into driveways. It is a hair-raising area in which to be on foot due to both high speeds and low visibility from a curve to the north — just before the Castle Street intersection -- that often features cars barreling down the hill from Alford Road, making crossing the street dangerous.
Has the “species purity” movement gotten out of hand, categorizing undesirable plants and animals, even earthworms, as invasive? Next thing you know its adherents will be calling for the elimination of apple trees as an alien species.
About the removal of flowering pear trees from Great Barrington's Main Street, Cindy Caminiti writes: "It is never easy to give up what one has known. But change is life, even if what is changing was beautiful. The broken water lines, pot holes and crashing branches were not."
When work will be begin on repairing the Bridge Street span, and what restrictions on traffic will be imposed during the repairs has yet to be determined. Bridge Street provides access to the east side of Great Barrington and is a busy bypass during the Main Street Reconstruction Project that is just getting under way.
“We have been working nonstop at the scene throughout the night, and have made very good progress in restoring service for our customers."
-- Verizon spokesperson Phil Santoro
Video cameras will be observing vehicular (and pedestrian) traffic during the Main Street Reconstruction. But who will be watching, and who will watch them?
