Railroad Street Likely to Be Upgraded Next Year

GREAT BARRINGTON — Next spring, the entire Railroad Street area will likely get a good makeover.

And town officials know exactly how to pay for it. They'll move some grant money around — from one side of Main Street to the other.

The Berkshire Eagle reports officials are proposing that about $1 million from a MassWorks grant intended for utility work around a brownfield on Bridge Street be shifted to repave and widen the sidewalks all the way up and around Railroad Street, as well as to repave the Railroad Street and Triplex parking lots.

The work would continue from the top of Railroad and down Elm Street, begin in early spring of 2019, and move quickly, said Town Planner Christopher Rembold.

With grant money, you use it or lose it, as Rembold explained Monday to the Select Board, and the board unanimously approved his idea to shift the funds.

"We're running out of time," he said.

The $2.1 million total state grant, which is intended to boost infrastructure in urban centers ripe for renewal and economic development, expires in June 2019. It was originally intended for work on and around Bridge St. to support several anticipated new developments there.