Alternative Route Being Mulled for North Adams Bike PathBy Tammy Daniels, iBerkshires Staff
02:17AM / Wednesday, October 07, 2015 | |
 Bike planners are taking another look at Route 2 as a viable route after Greylock residents opposed directing it through their neighborhood. |
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Bike path planners are seeking alternative routes after West End residents forcefully rejected the idea of it going through their neighborhood.
The Mohawk Bike Trail is slated to run from Williamstown into North Adams. The city's section was planned to run from the border on Route 2, by the airport then along Barbour Street before cross the river and coming out near Roberts Drive.
Residents, however, were strongly opposed to using the quiet neighborhood, citing concerns over noise, littering, privacy, proximity to Greylock School and potential crime.
"These concerns are understandable, particularly in a neighborhood that is closely knit and experiences very little visitation from non-residents," wrote project manager Lauren Gaherty of Berkshire Regional Planning Commission, the city's consultant on the project, in a letter to residents this week.
Mayor Richard Alcombright on Tuesday said he, Community Development Director Michael Nuvallie and Gaherty had met with state Department of Transportation officials last week to discuss alternatives.
"We did meet ... bringing the concerns of that neighborhood into play and really working with MassDOT to see if this can be brought out onto to Route 2," he said. "How can we look at this differently, that 1,200 or 1,500 feet near Barbour street where there was so much angst."
The path had been routed through the Greylock neighborhood in response to community meetings held over the past couple years. Those weighing in on the path set safety and community access as important factors.
There was concern over using the busy highway for the recreational path; land access along the Hoosic River on the south side is also problematic because space and grade for the wide flat path.
Alcombright said engineers will take another look at those areas and the river bank on the north side.
The Mohawk path will eventually connect with the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail as it moves north. The extension to Lime Street in Adams is expected to begin in the spring; the next leg to Hodges Cross Road in 2018. The $4.9 million Williamstown section is slated for 2017.
"City officials have reaffirmed to us that the goal of an accessible North Adams bike/ped path remains the same, namely to connect North Adams to paths being developed in Williamstown and Adams," wrote Gaherty.
More information on the project can be found here.
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