PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The city is still trying to secure funding to renovate the intersection of Woodlawn Avenue and East Street. But, it could take a while.

 

The city had previously sought to fund it with a $2.5 million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration for an array of improvements there tying into the development of the William Stanley Business Park. Federal officials had asked to pull out some items for a grant, such as bringing fiberwire to the park. The city responded by applying for a $1 million grant, which would have been matched by city funds. That, too, was not funded. 

 

"The challenge for us locally is that we do not have the resources to design and construct the intersection," Mayor Linda Tyer said. 

 

After striking out on the federal grant, the city turned to the state, and the Department of Transportation has agreed to take on the entire project, including the design work. The intersection is now wrapped into a $7.6 million project to completely re-do the section of East Street from Lyman Street to Merrill Road. Transportation officials have already hit the first design stepping stone — 25 percent design — and Department of Transportation officials have reviewed and responded to that.

 

The design the state is working on calls for the creation of a three-lane road, with the center being a turning lane onto Woodlawn and from Silver Lake Boulevard to Merrill would have a median. It would also include new signals and the roadway would include bicycle lanes and pedestrian accommodations at the intersection. 

 

"To me that is a critical need," Commissioner of Public Services David Turocy said on Tuesday when he advocated for the funding to be added to the five-year plan for county road projects. "I have to get that intersection improved." 

 

Last June, the city re-opened Woodlawn Avenue after the state completed a full bridge replacement over the railroad tracks. The road had been closed for 10 years and thus the traffic lights were turned off and now the city has a new north to south connection. But Turocy says more can be done at that intersection.

 

"We did re-energize the lights and we have them working. We are now looking at adding lanes," Turocy said.

 

The lights coming on have led to some concerns from citizens who frequently travel that road. But the inconvenience of yet another stop light restricting traffic flow during daily commutes has not triggered the level of traffic issues to need an immediate response.

 

Ward 3 Councilor Nicholas Caccamo says he has heard some feedback from his constituents about it but not much as far as complaints.

 

"I haven't received a whole lot of official complaints about the traffic on East Street. I've received more inquires about the change is traffic in patterns. Some drivers who never had to stop when traveling on East Street were now surprised by the slow down in traffic and I've heard reports of an uptick in near accidents. That appears to be the most problematic," Caccamo wrote in an email.

 

"Frankly, East Street is extremely busy during the afternoon commute home and I personally try to avoid that stretch of road at that time if possible. Any improvements to this street would be beneficial to the future of the William Stanley Park. An improved efficiency to the flow of traffic will only create a higher volume of passengers through the park promoting visibility to the tenants and connectivity between East Street and Tyler street, supporting development on both roadways."

 

The park's development adds a little extra urgency in renovating that particular intersection because there are two projects in the works. Walmart is looking to build a "super center" at the intersection of Woodlawn and Tyler Street and the Berkshire Innovation Center is awaiting construction funding for a parcel near East Street. Those developments are expected to increase traffic along Woodlawn and onto East Street. However, timelines for when or if either project will be completed is still up in the air.

 

"There are a number of improvements at the William Stanley Business Park," Turocy said.

 

Tyer says the intersection hasn't played a role in efforts to develop the park. 

 

"I don't think it is an obstacle to developing the park ... We just have to keep at it," Tyer said. "I'm not feeling pressure that the intersection is why the park hasn't met all of its potential."

 

Should the Walmart project go through as presented, the developers said they would fund a renovation of the Tyler Street intersection, which Turocy said would be a big help. But that still leaves the other side of the Woodlawn with needs.

 

"I fully support any improvements to the road way and potential new traffic patterns from the Merrill Road bridge to the intersection at Woodlawn Avenue. Any design that allows cars to simultaneously both enter onto the bridge and continue down east street would be a welcomed improvement," Caccamo wrote. 

 

The East Street-Woodlawn Avenue intersection sits between a four-lane section of East Street and a four-lane section of Merrill Road. Peter Frieri of MassDOT District 1 says the traffic volumes have dropped significantly since the four-lane traffic pattern on East Street was needed so a three-lane design works for the current volume. That also reduces the number of land takings the state will need if it hoped to keep it a four-lane road all the way from East to Merrill Road.

 

"A three-lane section would be more than adequate to manage those traffic flows," Frieri said.

 

Plans over the years have changed multiple times. There was a concept of a full road construction project from Fourth Street to Merrill Road. Now, those concepts are broken into three separate sections, each of which are eyed to be placed in the plan eventually.

 

Caccamo says the intersections at East and Lyman need work, and he'd like to see a something, possibly a light, to break up traffic at the East and Fenn, and he'd like to see the state consider a roundabout at the intersection of East Elm and Fourth.

 

The Woodlawn section was not recommended to go on the TIP. But at least one section of East Street has been recommended to go on the five-year plan. The Transportation Advisory Committee is recommendation a $2 million project in the area of Junction Road. That costs a lot less, which leaves room in the plan for MassDOT to undertake a project at the intersection of Routes 23 and 41 in Egremont, at an estimated $3.4 million. 

 

Tyer agrees that section needs work just as much.

 

"That's a little bit of an awkward location and does need refinement," Tyer said.

 

Clearly, to improve all of East Street would be a long and costly project but it is only one of hundreds of roads in Pittsfield. There are projects in just about every single town seeking state and federal funding through the Transportation Improvement Plan.

 

If the TAC plan and prices stay as written currently, which is highly unlikely, that would leave some $2.9 million more for programming. The TAC is somewhat already looking to use that to partially fund an $11.6 million project on Dalton Division Road. Dalton officials advocated for that scenario because it, too, would struggle to find the money to design and construct that project. 

 

That recommendation came after a vote to instead place the section with Woodlawn and East section in fiscal 2022 failed with a 3-3 vote. So, either way, Pittsfield was destined to get at least one section of that road onto the county Transportation Improvement Plan.

 

The Metropolitan Planning Organization will next take that under advisement when it goes to formally adopt the plan — but it is a plan that is constantly being revised so nothing is set in stone. Competing projects is somewhat of a flaw in the TIP process. There have been other projects waiting more than a decade to be programmed. Towns or the state don't put much effort into the design of such projects until they have a funding stream. The Berkshires receives just some $8.4 million or so a year from federal sources to allocate through the program, limiting the number of projects that get funded each year.

 

The Woodlawn Avenue intersection has been deemed a top priority by regional transportation planners, scoring the top ranking based on criteria, and design work has begun while many other projects haven't even started that. 

 

"I think it is going to get [on the list] eventually," Turocy said.

 

But patience is a virtue because the only possible funds available at this point won't be until 2023, and the Dalton Division Road project could eat up a large portion of whatever funds are earmarked then. With the number of competing road projects throughout the city and a lack of funding, Tyer and Caccamo are grateful for any type of outside help, such as what the state is providing for the Woodlawn intersection, even if it take a long time to come to fruition.

 

"While it would be nice to see the improvement sooner then later, I don't think this is a immediately critical project that the city needs to invest in right now. While the five-year funding is long, it's at least on the right radars and within sight. I'm certainly excited to see any efficacy designs for road ways in Pittsfield, no matter what ward they fall into," Caccamo wrote.