Hampshire College this morning
Yes, that is our Department of Public Works doing construction on private property.
They are building Hampshire College a driveway that will connect the parking lot over on the left with West Street (Rt 116) below.
The construction at top of photo does not involve our DPW. It's the new super efficient Hitchcock Center building, but it does look like it will share the new road being installed by the DPW.
Although the town is getting plenty of loam out of the deal
This is part of a deal made a few years ago relating to the Atkins Corner double roundabouts where the town needed to take some property from Hampshire College and offered construction services instead of cash.
Atkins Corner $6 million double roundabout project. Atkins Market top right
Why didn't the state simply pay Hampshire College for the property in the first place since the $6 million Atkins Corner project was a Department Of Transportation project?
They would have except the town "took over" Rt 116 from Atkins up to town center because they did not like they way the state was going to re widen along the Pomeroy Lane/West Street Village Center.
This also means our DPW has to plow this stretch of road in the winter.
As some of you may remember Hampshire College refused to allow a detour through their campus during the Atkins Corner construction, a project that almost led to the demise of Atkins Country Market.
Hampshire College pays the town nothing for Amherst Fire Department emergency service runs which average close to Amherst College, who pays $90,000 annually. UMass also pays $450,000 annually.
In reality none of the institutes of higher education pay their fair share. But certainly anything is better than nothing.
At least the roundabouts work