COLRAIN — After being tasked with auditing the safety of the intersection of Jacksonville Road and Greenfield Road at Annual Town Meeting in June, the Selectboard has declared the intersection to be safe, citing safety upgrades made between 2018 and 2023.

Selectboard members, along with the police and fire chiefs, highway superintendent and town administrator, wrote a letter to residents to reassure them of the safety improvements that have been made over the past few years using state and federal grants. These upgrades, guided by studies that occurred in 2017 and 2019, included installing bicycle lanes, sidewalks and wheelchair ramps at the intersection, as well as improving drainage. Additional signs were also installed to remind drivers of road and speed conditions ahead, along with flashing warning beacons activated by heavy vehicles.

At Annual Town Meeting, a citizen’s petition proposed the town install a stop sign at the bottom of Colrain Mountain. An amendment on the Town Meeting floor changed the proposal from installing a stop sign to tasking the Selectboard, Police Department and Highway Department with reviewing the safety of the Jacksonville Road and Greenfield Road intersection and finding solutions to improve it.

After about five months of review, town officials said no additional improvements are needed. The Selectboard wrote that with these infrastructure changes, safety at the intersection has improved over the past few years, however, the town will continue to monitor additional opportunities to enhance safety.

“Our ongoing monitoring confirms that these enhancements have contributed to improved road safety for all users, as we have seen a reduction in crashes and safer driving behavior in this area,” the Selectboard wrote. “We will continue to implement further upgrades recommended as they become a priority.”

The letter can be viewed at tinyurl.com/ColrainLetter.

Reach Madison Schofield at 413-930-4579 or mschofield@recorder.com.