iBerkshires

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — A countywide effort is developing a systematic approach to roadway safety for motorists and pedestrians.

Three public sessions were planned with the third is set for 10 a.m. Friday at the Great Barrington firehouse on State Road. There is also a Zoom option. The first two were held Thursday: at North Adams at noon and in Dalton at the public library at 5:30.

The sessions are being hosted by the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission for the Safe Travel and Equity Plan for our Streets (STEPS) initiative.

The nation, overall, has seen an uptick in the number of crashes, injuries and fatalities over the last decade, after tracking comparable to the European Union. Nicholas Russo, senior transportation planner at BRPC, said that’s true of Berkshire County as well as fatalities have increased over the past five years.

Pedestrian and bicycle accidents only make up about 2 percent of all incidents but 20 percent of the serious and fatal crashes.

North Adams has the No. 1 “intersection by severity” with 16 injury crashes and two serious injury crashes within a five-year span. No surprise, it’s where Hodges Cross Road meets Curran Highway. The intersection became much busier over the past decade with the opening of the Walmart Supercenter and a Cumberland Farms.

Full article HERE.