North Adams Overpass Study Holding Community Event

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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The North Adams Route 2 Overpass Study will host its third community engagement event on Thursday, July 10, from 5 to 7 p.m. 
 
This event, referred to as a Community Visioning Session, will take place in person under the tent in Courtyard A on the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art campus. 
 
The study is funded through a federal grant under the Reconnecting Communities Pilot Project. It has been looking at options to repair, replace or restore the deteriorating Veterans Memorial Bridge that carries Route 2 over the Hoosac River. The favored option is to eliminate the massive overpass, redirect traffic up West Main and recreate a semblance of 1960s North Adams.
 
The goal is to "reconnect" the downtown to the north side, including the museum and its thousands of visitors, and to create more pedestrian friendly movement, green space and areas for development. 
 
The community is invited to join the study team for a presentation of project updates and design concepts, and to share their thoughts and questions. This is the final opportunity for the public to give comments before the study team provides recommendations. 
 
Participants are encouraged to visit the online project platform here further information.
 
For those unable to attend the community visioning session, interactive activities and opportunities for input can be found on the project website.

Tags: downtown,   feasibility study,   mass moca,   overpass,   

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Clarksburg Students Write in Support of Rural School Aid

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff

Mason Langenback calculated that Clarksburg would get almost $1 million if the $60 million was allocated equally.
CLARKSBURG, Mass. — Eighth-graders at Clarksburg School took a lesson in civic advocacy this week, researching school funding and writing letters to Beacon Hill that call for fully funding rural school aid. 
 
The students focused on the hardships for small rural schools and their importance to the community — that they struggle with limited funding and teacher shortages, but offer safe and supportive spaces for learning and are a hub for community connections.
 
"They all address the main issue, the funding for rural schools, and how there's a gap, and there's the $4 million gap this year, and then it's about the $40 million next year, and that rural schools need that equitable funding," said social studies teacher Mark Karhan.
 
A rural schools report in 2022 found smaller school districts cost from nearly 17 percent to 23 percent more to operate, and recommended "at least" $60 million be appropriated annually for rural school aid. 
 
Gov. Maura Healey has filed for more Chapter 70 school aid, but that often is little help to small rural schools with declining or static enrollment. For fiscal 2027, she's budgeted $20 million for rural schools, up from around $13 million this year but still far below the hoped for $60 million. 
 
Karhan said the class was broken into four groups and the students were provided a submission letter from Rural Schools Advocacy. The students used the first paragraph, which laid out the funding facts, and then did research and wrote their own letters. 
 
They will submit those with a school picture to the governor. 
 
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