Page 8 - BusinessWest May 29, 2023

Hadley
at a glance
Year Incorporated: 1661
Population: 5,325
Area: 24.6 square miles
County: Hampshire
Residential Tax Rate: $11.54
Commercial Tax Rate: $11.54
Median Household Income: $51,851
Median Family Income: $61,897
Type of Government: Open Town Meeting, Board of Selectmen
Largest Employers: Super Stop & Shop; Evaluation Systems Group Pearson; Elaine Center at Hadley; Home Depot; Lowe’s Home Improvement
* Latest information available
COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT >>
Roadwork Challenges Hadley’s Main Artery
BY MARK MORRIS
Each spring, the town of Hadley attracts attention for its asparagus crops, as well as its crowded hotels and restaurants due to college graduations in surrounding
towns.
This year’s asparagus crop is strong, and the Asparagus
Festival is back and bigger than ever (more on that later). Graduations are all on schedule, too. Getting to all those events — well, that can be a challenge.
Route 9 — Russell Street in Hadley — is undergoing a reconstruction of two and a quarter miles of roadway, which involves replacing infrastructure below the road as well as upgrading and widening at the surface.
In most towns with just over 5,300 residents, a road proj- ect would present only a minor inconvenience. But Hadley’s geography places it in a unique situation because Route 9 serves as the main artery connecting it to Northampton, Amherst, and several other towns. Between the universities and businesses in the area, traffic through Hadley — a large- ly rural community both north and south of Russell Street — can easily top 100,000 vehicles a day.
To keep things moving, communication becomes essen- tial. With college graduations scheduled for the latter part of May, followed immediately by Memorial Day, Carolyn Bren- nan, Hadley’s town administrator, said mid- to late May is among the most challenging times.
“Once we get through the next few weeks, that will be huge,” Brennan said, noting that traffic becomes more man- ageable once the colleges empty out for the summer.
Molly Keegan co-founded the Hadley Business Council to address the needs of local companies.
8 MAY 29, 2023
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