DALTON, Mass. — The Select Board will discuss at it's meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 12, whether to reconsider its preferred option for the preliminary designs of Dalton Division Road. 

 

During a meeting last December, the Select Board voted to advocate for Concept A, which would have sidewalks on both sides, a 5-foot bike lane in the road on both sides with a buffer, and a 2-foot painted buffer between the vehicle lane and in the bike lane. They also recommended the two-way stop control option. 

 

This would be the most expensive and "certainly not" the engineer or the state's "preferred design," Town Manager Thomas Hutcheson said. 

 

The town's engineers are scheduled to speak at the next board meeting. 

 

The town's engineers are ready for the next step of the project, which will be starting to finalize the plan that the town approves for the state, he said. 

 

Hutcheson said he reviewed this with Chair Robert Bishop and Vice Chair Dan Esko, and there were some sentiments to revisit the decision that was made previously. 

 

Esko said that he supports the roundabout and the most affordable "path of least resistance to get this project done" in a timely fashion. 

 

"At the end of the day, getting a sidewalk on that whole road is a win. "It doesn't really matter what side it's on, to be honest with you," Esko said, with Bishop agreeing to this sentiment. 

 

Board members Marc Strout, former member Joe Diver, and Esko voted to advocate for Concept A at last year's meeting. 

 

They raised concerns about the preliminary designs' value for town residents, specifically noting that the Dalton side would not receive sidewalks despite paying for the associated project costs.

 

The project has challenges surrounding wetlands, state Department of Transportation requirements, and easements. 

 

The project would examine redesigns of the intersection off Williams Street, Washington Mountain Road, and Mountain Road to improve safety.

 

The two intersection options were a roundabout and a two-way stop control. The roundabout would require a permanent fee. 

 

Steve Savaria, Fuss & O'Neil project manager and senior traffic engineer, said during the December meeting that the existing roadway already crosses private property, so it would need to be corrected regardless. 

 

However, there would be about 6,000 square feet of the lot on the corner where Shire Donuts is located.  

 

Some of the construction of the intersection will take place over the line onto Williams Street so MassDOT does view this project as being in both municipalities, Savaria said during the December meeting. 

 

Last December, Diver motioned to advocate for the two-way stop control option because it is a new scope because of state requirements. 

 

If MassDOT chooses the roundabout option, the town could also be responsible for the "land grab." 

 

Boyle and Diver agreed that Pittsfield should pay at least half the cost of the project because it would benefit the city just as much as Dalton, if not more, if there were only sidewalks on the Pittsfield side.

 

"It works fine now. Make some minor corrections to it, and move forward because I would not support more funds to take over land when we don't even know what our next capital plan is for the next one or two years," Diver said in December. 

 

Bishop was absent during the December meeting, and Boyle was against the motion to advocate for he two-way stop control option because he favored the roundabout design.

 

Savaria said during the December meeting that the two-way stop control option would have little impact on traffic operations.

 

"You would still have the same issues with the geometry of the intersection being contrary to people's normal expectation of the right away, and that's the problem that you have there now. That the main flow is going around the corner instead of going straight in any direction," he said. 

 

During the Monday night meeting, Boyle expressed his strong disagreement with the decision made in December to advocate for the two-way stop control option. 

 

He noted that the chairman at the time, Diver, did not seek input from the police chief, fire chief, Department of Public Works director, or officials from neighboring towns before making the motion.

 

Following the December meeting, the Traffic Commission weighed in on the topic, and some felt the roundabout was "a better alternative." More information here. 

 

At the December meeting, Diver originally motioned to pause the project to inform the Metropolitan Planning Organization that the board had "major concerns." 

 

Boyle agreed with this motion, but it was later voted down due to worries of delaying the project.