GREAT BARRINGTON — Initial work on the much-anticipated — and, to some, much-dreaded — Route 7 roundabout could begin this week.
Town Manager Mark Pruhenski told members of the selectboard last night that officials from the state Department of Transportation had notified him last week that “preliminary work” could begin as early as the middle of this week.
The three-way intersection, currently governed by a traffic light, is where routes 7, 23, and 41 come together in front of the Great Barrington police station and a small strip mall containing Trotta’s Liquors and Manhattan Pizza.
MassDOT told Pruhenski the work is expected to span over two construction seasons and will include safety upgrades, crosswalks, sidewalks, tree plantings, and “moving utilities underground.”
The project is MassDOT’s alone. But selectboard member Ed Abrahams asked Pruhenski about the burial of utility wires and whether it was part of the state’s project or the town’s responsibility.
“That portion we are responsible for,” Pruhenski replied. “The rest of the project is a state project.”
When then-town manager Jennifer Tabakin first announced the proposal in September 2018, the project generated enormous controversy among townspeople who questioned the necessity and expense to the state of the $2 million undertaking.
A subsequent public hearing in Town Hall with MassDOT officials a couple of months later attracted at least two dozen town residents, almost all of whom questioned the need. The number of attendees would probably have been higher if not for the fact that MassDOT did not advertise the public hearing in any Berkshire County newspapers. Click here to read a description of the project prepared by MassDOT.
In addition, members of the business community said they were convinced the construction, which could last for more than a year, would negatively affect retailers in much the same way that Main Street reconstruction had from 2014 to 2016.
See video below of a public hearing on Nov. 20, 2018, with MassDOT officials in Town Hall concerning the then-proposed roundabout. The PowerPoint presentation includes an animated simulation of what traffic would look like flowing through the roundabout:
As for why there is a need for the conversion of the three-way intersection to a roundabout, officials said, through a road safety audit in 2015, MassDOT identified the three-way intersection as having an unusually high number of crashes — 16 in the three years preceding the 2018 hearing, to be exact. A state engineering subcontractor for the project said three of those crashes involved bodily injury.
By all accounts, the intersection is in rough shape and isn’t exactly pleasing to the eye. Some audience members questioned why the state wasn’t proposing to simply fix the intersection rather than radically change its design.
MassDOT project engineer Mark Moore said the cost of fixing the intersection without a roundabout would be similar to the $2 million figure the department had quoted for the roundabout itself. This is because the pavement is so deteriorated the road would likely have to be rebuilt rather than simply repaved — adding greatly to the cost. New sidewalks would also have to be constructed, as they would with a roundabout.
Construction of the roundabout will involve easements and the taking, through eminent domain, of very small portions of land from three property owners: the owners of the Searles Castle property; the former McTeigue & McClelland jewelers building; and the town of Great Barrington, which owns the land on which the police station sits.
State officials say the roundabout will improve traffic calming, flow, and safety, as well as make the intersection more pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly. But attendees at the hearing were concerned that traffic from all three directions would have to be narrowed to one lane in the approach to the traffic circle.
While existing signals for pedestrians would be removed — a feature that troubled many of the attendees — MassDOT says those on foot can press a button for a blinking light signifying that all vehicles must yield to pedestrians. In addition, the distance pedestrians must cross will be only one lane wide, as opposed to the existing intersection which requires crossing a width of two or more lanes. The crosswalks as they currently exist can be dangerous for the elderly and disabled, MassDOT said.
At Monday night’s meeting, Great Barrington businessman Richard Stanley said he had hoped the roundabout project was dead because “it’s a project in search of a problem.” However, selectboard chairman Steve Bannon reminded him that it is a state project.
“Sadly, I understand that,” Stanley replied. “Is there any way we can put pressure on our state elected officials to put this on hold?”
“Many of us are not necessarily against the project,” Bannon said, smiling broadly.
There are few roundabouts in Berkshire County. One was completed in 2016 in Adams at the intersection of Route 8 (Columbia Street) and Friend and Renfrew streets, evidently as a traffic-calming measure. A MassDOT blog post on the project said it cost $1.4 million and included new sidewalks, landscaping, granite curbs and pavement markings.
The blog also quoted Dan Maloney, the president of McAndrews-King Buick GMC, the auto dealership at the former intersection.
“The completed roundabout not only looks great, but it also works very well,” Maloney said. “It has slowed traffic down, making it safer for everyone. It is now much easier for vehicles coming onto Route 8 from Friend Street.”
There is also technically a roundabout in Williamstown near the site of the former Williams Inn, at the intersection of routes 2 and 7, but it is oval-shaped and has a spacious park in the interior that includes a historic house. Williamstown is also studying a potential roundabout at the intersection of Main and Water streets.
In other Great Barrington transportation news, Pruhenski said MassDOT also told him the ongoing repairs on the Brown Bridge are projected to be completed in June.
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