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North Adams Downtown Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan

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North Adams Downtown Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan North Adams Downtown Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan City of North Adams, MA Northern Berkshire Community Coalition Berkshire Regional Planning Commission January 2021 Table of Contents Introduction .......................................................................................... 3 Health Benefits of Walking and Biking ................................................... 4 Relevant Planning Documents ............................................................ 4 Impacts of Urban Renewal ................................................................ 7 Existing Conditions .................................................................................. 9 Roadway Characteristics ................................................................... 9 Walking and Biking Network .............................................................. 9 Commute Characteristics ................................................................. 9 Indicators of Potential Need for Investment in Alternative Transportation ..... 10 Safety Data ................................................................................ 10 Challenges and Barriers ................................................................. 11 Public Process ...................................................................................... 12 Business and Civic Organization Meetings ........................................... 12 Public Survey .............................................................................. 12 Open-House Style Meeting .............................................................. 13 Input Survey #2 .......................................................................... 14 The Big Picture ............................................................................ 15 Conceptual Strategy and Designs ............................................................... 15 Proposed New Bike Facilities ............................................................ 15 Route 2 Corridor Future Improvements ............................................... 22 Bike Signal Upgrades ..................................................................... 23 North Adams Bike Path .................................................................. 23 Intersection Reconstruction ............................................................. 24 System Improvements .................................................................. 25 General Sidewalk Improvements and Recommendations .......................... 26 Engineering Review and Concept Development ..................................... 26 Recommendations and Project Phasing Prioritization ........................................ 28 Recommended Project List .............................................................. 28 Project Scoring Criteria and Results ................................................... 30 Potential Phasing and Project Cost Estimates ........................................ 31 Appendices.......................................................................................... 35 Appendix A: Public Engagement ................................................................ 35 Appendix B: Streetmix Design Concepts ...................................................... 42 Appendix C: Project Map ......................................................................... 50 Appendix D: Waterfield Design Group Concepts ............................................. 55 Endnotes ................................................................................... 71 Introduction Introduction his report was prepared by the Berkshire of opportunity representing institutions such as the Regional Planning Commission in Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art T collaboration with the City of North Adams (MASS MoCA), the Massachusetts College of and the Northern Berkshire Community Liberal Arts (MCLA), and such downtown Coalition (nbCC). This report, along with the work businesses as restaurants, boutique shops, and that provides the basis for this project, was made grocery stores, as well as such landmarks as possible by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Heritage State Park and the UNO Community Housing and Economic Development (EOHED) Center. In essence, these spaces are important to FY2020 Urban Agenda grant program. employment, recreation, tourism, and day to day Staff from the City of North Adams and from activities. nbCC assisted immensely over the course of this Over the decades, the cityscape of North project and their work efforts are sincerely Adams has undergone dramatic transformations. appreciated: The most abrupt and far-reaching changes • Zachary Feury, Project Coordinator – Office occurred between 1950 and 1980 as the city began of Community Development, North Adams, to transition to a post-industrial era. Referred to as MA. urban renewal, this transition meant physically • Amanda Chilson, Health and Wellness restructuring the city’s downtown to better Coordinator – Northern Berkshire accommodate modern needs. The restructuring Community Coalition, North Adams, MA. had a profound ripple effect that, among other impacts, has fragmented the layout of the city by Initiated by the City of North Adams, this prioritizing automobiles as the most important project serves as a continuation of efforts that mode of travel. This means many of the city’s key builds upon recently completed planning studies, destinations – or islands of opportunity – are projects and public input received by municipal primarily connected via roadways which, in officials. Specifically, this project advances efforts addition to other features, pose barriers for safe, to greatly enhance both the walkability and convenient pedestrian circulation. bikability of the city’s downtown core. Rich in Today, a lack of connectivity in areas coupled cultural attractions, industrial relics of a bygone with sporadic blighted properties, irregular lots, era, and beautiful scenic vistas, the city of North and natural and man-made barriers have all Adams is home to numerous points of interest. necessitated the need to create safe, multimodal Such points of interest can be thought of as islands Figure 1: Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art – North Adams, MA Introduction connections that provide circulation from promote health since they are the most common neighborhoods to downtown destinations. Informed forms of physical activity as well as active by further community input along with past transport. An increase of one-hundred minutes of studies, this project provides conceptual designs cycling per week, reduces the mortality risk by for enhancing physical connections that link islands 10% when compared to non-cyclists. An increase of opportunity in the downtown. of one-hundred and sixty-eight minutes of walking Among specific recommended action steps to per week reduces the risk of early mortality by enhance pedestrian circulation in the downtown, approximately 11%.5 this report proposes the following: • Creation of a cycletrack that provides safe, convenient pedestrian pathways connecting Relevant Planning neighborhoods with Mass. MoCA, downtown, and MCLA. Documents • Establish neighborhood bike lanes that Over the years, North Adams has embarked on connect neighborhoods to downtown and numerous planning projects and initiatives proposed cycletrack. centered on improving the experience of the city • Construct short spur paths on the Mass. from beyond the confines of an automobile. MoCA campus and American Legion Drive Substantial work and input from city residents to connect future bike path with downtown. have been incorporated into the development of • Upgrade and improve safety at key these various planning initiatives. While each intersections, particularly the intersection planning study varies slightly in intended at Main, E. Main, Church Street. outcomes, the studies that have focused on place- • Implement Eagle Street woonerf design making and pedestrian mobility have elucidated proposal. common underlying themes. • Consider future corridor planning for Route 2. Complete Streets: Envisioning a Multimodal North Adams In the winter of 2019, four Williams College Health Benefits of students finalized a follow-up study document to the city’s Complete Street Prioritization plan Walking and Biking developed in 2017. The project provided a plan It is well established that physical activity containing redesign options along key streets in promotes longevity, decreases the risk of chronic North Adams, with Main Street serving as the conditions, and improves mental health and well- backbone of the network. This plan is meant to being, while relieving stress.1,2 Access to an active serve as a blueprint for integrating complete living system can improve a community’s health streets redesign options in conjunction with by promoting physical and recreational activity, scheduled repaving efforts undertaken by the City. while reducing poor health outcomes. An active Redesign options offered in the report span low- living system that is used for commuting can help cost, ‘doable’ changes to more ambitious to reduce cardiovascular risk by 11%, increase reconstruction projects. daily steps, and increase time spent walking.3 Researchers have correlated communities that Eagle Street Woonerf Feasibility Study report higher rates of walking and cycling to work As part of its FY2018 Community Development with more daily physical activity and lower rates of Block Grant program, the City contracted BRPC to obesity and diabetes.4 Cycling and
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