The Technical Steering Committee (TSC) decided at its June 28th meeting to postpone the July 13th meeting of the Regional Study Committee (RSC) until August 24th. We apologize for any inconvenience this delay may cause you. The additional time is required so we may present to you in a single meeting the full range of alternatives including non-highway, transportation systems management (TSM), and highway alternatives. This should provide better context and continuity as we move through the screening process to develop a short list of alternatives for detailed evaluation.

At the last RSC meeting, we presented a series of transportation access improvement solutions and alternatives including TSM, corridor upgrades, and new corridors. The TSC has since consolidated certain "functionally equivalent" corridor upgrade and new corridor improvements for the purpose of analyzing them with the regional traffic model. We are now refining the TSM alternatives and incorporating non-auto oriented solutions (transit, bicycle/pedestrian and rail). Remember that both the no-build and TSM alternatives are automatically carried through to the short list for baseline comparison to any major investment alternatives.

To be certain that all RSC members have the materials that were distributed and discussed at the last meeting, we are enclosing for your review the following:

• Table of Contents
• Summary Sheets
• Maps of Solutions and Alternatives

The minutes from the last meeting are also enclosed. Soon you will receive materials indicating the alternatives that can be analyzed using the regional traffic model. You will also receive additional information prior to the rescheduled meeting.

You will be notified of the time and location of our August RSC and September full Berkshire Transportation Forum (BTF) meetings in the next few weeks. We look forward to your continued participation in the North-Central Berkshire Access Study. If you have any questions about the study, please call MassHighway Study Manager Diane Madden at (617) 973-7477 (diane.madden@state.ma.us) or BRPC Senior Planner Zoe Neaderland at (413) 442-1521 zoe_neaderland@mma.org.