Great Barrington — In response to months of complaints about punctured tires after freshly cut granite curbing was installed by the state, the town decided to file the sharp edges and put an end to the drama.
The Main Street Reconstruction project was a $5.8 million Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) affair that widened and renovated the state Route 7 thoroughfare through town, resurfacing the road, repairing old infrastructure, replacing lights and adding in new curbs and sidewalks.
There’s been plenty of grousing over all aspects of the project, but none so controversial as the curb edges.
Local auto shops reported more tire repairs and replacements that usual, all due to the new curbs’ sharp edges, that took bites out of unsuspecting parallel parkers.
Outgoing Department of Public Works (DPW) Director Joe Sokul had said the snowplows would eventually take care of those edges. But it was too little too late, and the town decided it had to get a jump on things.
Selectboard Chair Sean Stanton said the edges are being filed by the DPW late at night when the streets are empty. He said it is an “in house” project that will cost the town some for labor, but that it wasn’t taking that much time. The town started working on the curbs when MassDOT officially signed off on the reconstruction project last week, he said.
Edward Mahoney, president of Williams Stone, Inc. in Otis, the supplier of granite curbing for this project as well as being a major supplier throughout the U.S., told The Edge for an earlier article that, when the granite for Great Barrington was ordered, an eased edge (or chamfered edge) was not specified as it often is in parking situations. Mahoney explained that the decision to leave the edge un-eased is “usually budget-driven.”
The town said the responsibility was with MassDOT; MassDOT turned around and said the town should have chosen better.
Last summer, Town Manager Jennifer Tabakin said at a Selectboard meeting that the town could, if needed, take care of some troublesome curb edges by buffing them with equipment.