Downtown Improvements Receive Boost with $100K State Infrastructure Grant

The Town of Great Barrington has received a $100,000 state grant for completion of infrastructure work to support housing and economic development in the downtown area. This award will be combined with the MassWorks Infrastructure Program grant, received in 2015, to fund the $2.2 million rehabilitation of streets and sidewalks downtown.

The grant from the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development's Housing Choice and Capital Grants program will help the town complete sidewalk and road work on and around Bridge, Church, School, Railroad and Elm Streets. The area is central to more than $110 million in investment in mixed-use developments, including more than over 100 multi-family housing-units and 160,000 square feet of commercial space.

Bridge Street will be home to a hotel, condominium development and a new and enlarged Berkshire Co-op Market. Railroad Street has a new mixed use development, including apartments and retail stores. The development of the Co-Op Market building on Bridge Street is in full swing; the Railroad Street project is complete.

The Housing Choice program is a new competitive grant for small communities pursuing high-impact housing and economic development projects. This type of public investment improves aging infrastructure and helps attract private investment in the area, such as new housing and economic opportunities.

Other recent and planned infrastructure improvements include the Bridge Street bridge rehabilitation, the Main Street reconstruction, water main replacements and upgrades to the wastewater treatment plant. Also planned for 2019 is a $600,000 street and sidewalk improvement project on Bridge Street and Bentley Avenue,in the area of the 100 Bridge Street housing development. This work will improve the connection between the residential area east of the river and the downtown.

The downtown street and sidewalk improvements are scheduled to begin construction the week of Oct. 29,  beginning with drainage improvements on Church Street, followed by Bridge and School Streets. Sidewalk improvements, curbing, lighting, and paving of Railroad and Elm Streets are tentatively scheduled for March and April 2019. All downtown street improvement work is scheduled for substantial completion by June 30, 2019.

For more information contact Town Planner Christopher Rembold, crembold@townofgb.org.

Oct. 20, 2018