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.
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.
Police Chief Bill Walsh, along with Sgt. Paul Storti, presented a recently designed strategic enforcement plan to the selectboard Monday night at the Claire Teague Senior Center.
Yesterday, after the boil order was imposed, five more samples were collected from the Green River pumping station, where the sample was taken that originally prompted the order. None of the five tested positive for E. coli.
Wednesday’s announcement regarding the Complete Streets program provides funding to the Berkshire community of Great Barrington, which will receive $222,077 for a sidewalk extension on the Housatonic Main Street.
The care and stewardship of an historic property offers a unique opportunity for area youth to glean lessons of the past as they develop ideas for a sustainable future.
While the main is being replaced beneath the tracks, traffic will be reduced to one lane, so motorists should expect some delays during peak traffic times. As required by law, a pair of police officers will direct traffic around the clock.
The rickety-looking bridge has long been the subject of complaints and concerns of nearby residents and passersby who have questioned its structural integrity and the appropriateness of allowing large vehicles such as dump trucks and semi-tractor trailers to rumble over its pockmarked decking.
Great Barrington Town Manager Jennifer Tabakin also said MassDOT's project review committee has approved an initial application for a $6.9 million rebuild of Main Street from Saint James Place to the area of the Claire Teague Senior Center and National Grid office on Route 7.
Berkshire Regional Planning Commission senior transportation planner Eammon Coughlin said the town will be notified in late December if it is awarded funding.
Researching the carrot family, I discovered yellow flowering wild parsnip, a plant that is reported to be as hazardous as poison ivy. Upon close examination of a 6-feet-tall individual, it was clear that I had, in fact, come upon wild parsnip.
Undoubtedly the greatest African-American intellectual in U.S. history and an activist who pioneered the modern civil rights movement and worked tirelessly for African peoples’ freedom throughout the world, Du Bois is long overdue for public recognition in Great Barrington and the nation. Yet like Banquo’s ghost, the controversy surrounding Du Bois — and particularly his political ideology and affiliation at the end of his life — will not go down.
