BRPC Kicks Off Road Safety Action Plan with Public Information Sessions

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) federal funding program is bringing resources to Berkshire County to reduce serious injuries and fatalities on our roads, with the goal of reaching zero.

Berkshire Regional Planning Commission (BRPC) is kicking off this effort under the banner of their STEPS Initiative: the Safe Travel and Equity Plan for our Streets, and will soon begin the data gathering process.

To help answer the question of how we prevent more people from experiencing traffic crashes in the future, BRPC is inviting residents of Berkshire County to share their experiences that might not be found in a statewide database.

Input will help shape the priorities of the STEPS Comprehensive Safety Action Plan. This Action Plan will open the door for future funding for recommended construction or programs. The planning team will offer three opportunities to attend in-person or virtually this month (the meetings will be identical in content):

• Thursday, June 20, North Adams: Terra Nova | 85 Main Street | 12:00 – 1:00pm
• Thursday, June 20, Dalton: Dalton Public Library | 462 Main Street | 5:30 – 6:30pm
• Friday, June 21, Great Barrington: State Road Firehouse | 37 State Road | 10:00 – 11:00am

Spanish language interpretation will be available on Zoom for the June 20 meeting at 5:30. To join any meeting via Zoom, you must pre-register for the one you wish to attend at: berkshireplanning.org/initiatives/ss4a/

At the meetings, the planning team will present the background and need for this study and the data gathered so far. Berkshire residents are invited to provide their perspectives and experiences on how they feel about road safety in their communities. Specifically, the planning team wants to know:

• How has the real or perceived risk of injury affected the way you travel? Do you choose not to take a trip by foot or bike? Not travel after dark?
• What neighborhoods have been historically underserved by our transportation system, and overly represented in injuries and fatalities?
• Where have you seen risky situations or behavior that might not show up in statewide crash data?
• How can we most effectively encourage safer behaviors on a regional scale?

Residents are also encouraged to participate in a 5-minute online survey that will help to build the Action Plan. Take the survey at surveymonkey.com/r/SS4A. The survey will remain open through the summer. Learn more about the STEPS Initiative project at  berkshireplanning.org/initiatives/ss4a/.

Stop & Shop Boosts BCC Food Pantry by $7,500

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
12:34AM / Thursday, April 03, 2025

Posing with the 'big check' Wednesday are BCC program coordinator Meghan Donnelly, in pink, and Stop & Shop's Shannon Karafian, holding the check. To Karafian's right are SGA's Ash Smith and David Castegnaro.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Stop & Shop boosted Berkshire Community College's food pantry by $7,500, providing students with nutritional stability while focusing on education.

Late last year, Stop & Shop donated $7,500 in gift cards to BCC for its Campus Cupboard, making it the 50th college partner of the grocery's School Food Pantry Program. This stocked the on-campus pantry with food and toiletry items available for any student or staff member in need.

"The dedication that we have seen from the staff here, not just in preparing for today's event, but their commitment all year round to supporting the students here has been just truly a sight to see," said Shannon Karafian, the grocer's School Food Pantry program manager, noting "We know there's a need."

BCC's essential needs coordinator Meghan Donnelly said the donation, made in November, has tremendously impacted the college community and will be instrumental in assuring the pantry shelves have a variety of stock.

"We were thrilled to have the money," explaining that the grocery chain took care of the Wednesday's events marking the donation, including a cooking lesson and goodie bags.

"… They have just been absolutely wonderful with supporting us, and we're super, super grateful for their collaboration."

Donnelly is glad to see "quite a bit of growth" in the panty this year and noted the students' kindness and consideration around it. She often hears them worry that someone else might need it more.

"We really want to kind of eliminate that, eliminate the stigma with using this, because students are working so hard and are putting in a lot of hours, a lot of various roles that they're playing," she said.