Wicked Local
Acton has received a grant from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation that will help increase pedestrian safety and connect two popular recreation areas.
According to a release, the grant, totaling $285,730.36, will be used to fund construction of a sidewalk on the north side of Harris Street, connecting the new North Acton Fire Station and surrounding neighbors to Main Street The Harris Street sidewalk also will link the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail and the Nathaniel Allen Recreation Area (NARA Park).
The project was one of 40 funded by the state this month. This grant will provide added safety to the North Acton neighborhood, and a key connection to the town’s recreational opportunities, Town Manager John Mangiaratti said.
FALL RIVER Tony Elkhoury teared up when he was told that the new bridge on Brightman Street might not open for another three months.
“It’s crazy,” the owner of Tony’s Gas & Repair said. “I don’t know what to say. I’m very upset.”
The original 120-year-old, two-lane bridge that traverses Mass Coastal Railroad tracks has been closed to vehicular traffic since Sept. 28, 2020.
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation initially said the old timber bridge would be replaced by the end of last year.
But this week a MassDOT spokesperson said the soonest one can expect the new structure to open will be “within the next few months.”
Picture Main Street: Northampton city planners present redesign options to public
Updated 9:29 AM;
Today 9:29 AM
A roughly a half-mile of Northampton s Main St. at the city center is slated for a large-scale redesign. (Northampton Mayor David Narkewicz s Office).
Facebook Share
Downtown Northampton, where walkers and bikers intermingle with cars and buses among restaurants, retail shops and bars, is on its way to a major update.
City planners presented four options to the public Wednesday night for a redesign of a half-mile of Northampton’s social and economic center. Under the title “Picture Main Street,” the project would modify the sidewalks, traffic flow and landscape of the city center.
QUINCY The long-awaited Generals Bridge downtown is behind schedule thanks to pandemic-related construction delays and unexpected challenges in soil and asbestos abatement work.
The bridge is starting to take shape and will open to the public roughly two months after a dedication ceremony this September. The ceremony was originally scheduled for May, but was delayed due to COVID-related gathering restrictions.
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation says the bridge is now expected to be finished Nov. 10, months after its original May 3 estimate. The demolition of the Revel Building at 79 Parkingway St. was delayed, which impacted the excavation and construction of the north retaining wall on the access road to the bridge, a spokesperson for the agency said.
Anne O Connor, who is a non-voting member of the interim chief advisory committee, told her colleagues on the Select Board that the search group has interviewed three applicants and is hoping to arrange a fourth interview. Outgoing Town Manager Jason Hoch asked the Select Board to form a search committee to make a recommendation to his office for the interim post after then-Chief Kyle Johnson resigned in December. After some initial uncertainty about the level of community interest in serving on the search committee, the town received 22 applications and appointed eight residents to the panel. O Connor said its work so far has been heartening.