State won’t budge on having two Route 9 multi-use paths in Hadley project
GAZETTE FILE PHOTO
HADLEY — State officials remain committed to having multi-use paths for bicyclists and pedestrians on both sides of a reconstructed Route 9 between Hadley center and the shopping malls.
Despite an appeal from the Select Board to remove one of these 8-foot-wide paths from the $25 million project, state Department of Transportation employees told the board Wednesday that both shared paths are necessary in the project that is expected to go out to bid in September.
DOT District 2 Project Development Engineer Richard Masse said all construction work on highways in the state needs to comply with the 2008 Global Warming Solutions Act. That Massachusetts law, focused on climate change, requires that transportation by means other than automobiles be offered as part of projects as a way to get statewide greenhouse gas emissions levels in 1990 cut by 80% by 2050.