Well, Tarkusian Cities is finally lurching slowly forward again, and we'll finally take a look at the City of Lenox's efforts to improve traffic flow in the North Lenox area we looked at two updates ago.

Brinstar Road Project, Phase I

The purpose of this project is to improve Brinstar Road between the Lenox River to just south of Hidden valley Road (Highway 231, former Highway 151). Brinstar is a major north-south arterial connecting many northeastern suburban neighborhoods and hi-tech parks to downtown Lenox, and increased growth in the area has rendered the existing 2-lane roadway obsolete.

Phase I of the project will widen the segment between Maridia Way and Nerdly Lane to 4 travel lanes, with intersection improvements at Maridia and Nerdly.

Now, a look at Phase I construction:

First off, here's the map of Lenox again.

This is at the intersection of Brinstar Road and Maridia Way, looking east from Maridia. As you can see, this intersection is quite antiquated given the development in the area, and the first bulldozer is already in place.

Grading on the new right of way has begun along Brinstar. (looking east)

This is the bridge over Maridia Creek along Brinstar, facing south from the golf course. It's horribly substandard and was built when Brinstar Road was still a rural collector route. The bridge will be replaced with a modern 4-lane structure.

This is north of the Maridia Way intersection (facing south), where part of the new right-of-way (ROW) has been paved, and traffic switched over to it.

A temporary alignment is being built on the far reaches of the ROW (facing east), so that Brinstar and Maridia can remain interconnected while the intersection is reconstructed.

This is where the temporary alignment starts north of the intersection (facing east).

Work is commencing on the intersection (facing north). A small section of the old Brinstar roadway has been retained to provide access to the golf course from Maridia, albeit converted to gravel until the new 4-lane roadway has been built and paved.

A temporary bridge has been built over Maridia Creek (facing north).

The old bridge has been torn out to make way for the new bridge (facing north).

[Pic9-missing due to Imageshack issues]

Part of the new, widened Brinstar Road has been built north of the intersection (facing north)

The new 4-lane roadway has been temporarily connected up to the construction bridge. (facing north)

The new bridge has opened, and the old one has come down. (facing north)

The improvements to the Brinstar/Maridia intersection have been completed (facing east). Left turn lanes have been built along Brinstar, and since most of the traffic eastbound on Maridia turns right at this intersection, right turn lanes have been constructed on the west approach. The new intersection has not yet been signalized.

This is the south end of the Brinstar Road widening project (facing south), at the improved intersection with Nerdly Lane. Eventually, Brinstar will be widened down to Hidden Valley Road (Highway 231) and up a couple miles through the northern suburbs as well.

And a sneak preview of one of the city's next project. In order to further improve connectivity in northeast Lenox, a new north-south route will be built with a second bridge across Maridia Creek. It will connect Maple Drive on the south side up to Wheatstone Terrace.

That does it for this update.

-Alex