The Route 2 Overpass, constructed in 1959 during the urban renewal era, constitutes a significant barrier to community connectivity. The overpass poses a number of access, livability, and multi-modal safety barriers to fostering a people-oriented downtown and supporting economic activity for small businesses. During a three-year planning process that led to the publication and adoption of the City's "Vision 2030" comprehensive plan, this issue was repeatedly raised and recognized; however, it was considered a longer-term priority given the high cost of removing the overpass and relative newness of the roadway. ​

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The Route 2 Overpass Study (R2OS)—funded by a $750,720 grant through the U.S. Department of Transportation's Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program, part of the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law—is the result of a joint grant application from a place-based partnership led by the City of North Adams and MASS MoCA. The R2OS planning and feasibility study will analyze the flow of pedestrian and vehicular traffic, explore several alternatives—from a "do-nothing" approach to transformative streetscape redesign to the removal of the overpass and return of Route 2 to grade level— and recommend a path forward. 

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The legacy of harm generated by the Route 2 Overpass has been exacerbated by poor, automotive-centric transportation planning downtown, which affords primacy of place to open air parking lots that are highly under capacity on most days of the year. The R2OS stands on the shoulders of Vision 2030 and numerous other transportation and redevelopment studies as well as intense public engagement over the years. The R2OS will:
 

• Consolidate the elements of disparate studies and plans that specifically relate to downtown connectivity;

• Commission transportation, urban design, and environmental analyses necessary to chart a course for the future of the Route 2 Overpass and its surroundings; and

• Comprehensively engage diverse segments of the North Adams community, including hard-to-reach populations, to direct and comment on the planning and feasibility study
   

The clear path to remediating this legacy of harm perpetuated by poor transportation infrastructure in this economically disadvantaged community is to engage the community along with planning and engineering professionals to develop an equity-centered multimodal plan for the Route 2 Overpass and its vicinity.

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"... Consider the re-integration of Route 2 into the downtown, perhaps also allowing additional development in that area more reminiscent of the downtown prior to urban renewal demolitions. As road and bridge projects move forward and major investments are planned that include Route 2, a reconstruction should be considered instead of a simple maintenance of the roadway as it is currently built. The City owns this bridge, and will need to pursue state or federal funding to address challenges.”

 

—North Adams Vision 2030 Plan, p. 87