The good news is the bridge will remain open to two-way traffic during construction. The lanes will be narrowed to provide adequate workspace safety and staging areas for materials.
Town manager Mark Pruhenski said the rainbow symbol is widely believed to have been launched in Italy, appearing in communities from western Europe to the United States.
A penny on each dollar collected by the state's 6.26 percent sales tax (excluding meals) goes to fund the MBTA. That means Berkshire County residents fund the MBTA with every purchase, even though the MBTA's services do not extend beyond Worcester County.
The decline is steepest among those from 18 to 39 years of age. Also, the population is skewing toward older adults, most of whom are retired or approaching retirement age.
Town manager Mark Pruhenski acknowledged that the costs for the emergency repair of the Division Street bridge, which are currently unknown, would be in addition to whatever it costs to perform a permanent repair or replacement.
Design Advisory Committee Chairman Pedro Pachano told the selectmen at their Monday meeting that his panel considered several possibilities, including repainting the bridge to roughly match its current color.
Whether one lane of the Brown Bridge is closed during construction or whether it is shut down altogether, the construction will be a major disruption to traffic, especially considering the fact that the town-owned Division Street bridge was closed by the state in the second week of September.
The work is scheduled to begin Monday, Oct. 28, and will continue each night through Thursday, Oct. 31, between the hours of 7 p.m. and 5:30 a.m. and will require temporary closures of the high-speed lane.
At Monday's Great Barrington Selectboard meeting at the Claire Teague Senior Center, concerns ranged from traffic, speeding, and the impact the closure of the Division Street and Cottage Street bridges are having on businesses and residents alike.
