MassWorks Awards $126,000 for Old Route 7 Greenway Trail Completion

The state has awarded another $126,000 to Great Barrington for completion of the Old Route 7 Greenway Multi-Use Trail Project. The grant is from MassWorks, a department of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development.

This latest grant, plus a previous MassDOT Shared Streets grant of $137,310, will allow the Town to decrease the amount of money it had intended to borrow to fund the project. When complete, the project will cost $517,000.

The half-mile path is being built along the former, discontinued, route of Stockbridge Road.  The path is separated from the road, representing a major safety improvement for walkers and bikers on this section of Stockbridge Road, who would otherwise walk on the narrow shoulders of the busy highway

Together with a new sidewalk completed by MassDOT, the path closes a hiking loop in the Fountain Pond/Three Mile Hill trail system, and completes a walkable link between two health/community centers: the Community Health Programs (CHP) campus to the north and the Berkshire South Community Center area to the south.

The project is slated for completion this fall.

"The Old Route 7 Greenway is a significant safety and recreation improvement, and that’s why the state has put so much support behind this project," said Chris Rembold, assistant town manager and director of planning and community development. "We were thrilled by this funding news and we look forward to completing the work soon."