South Coast Rail project moving along
With soil samples recently being taken in Easton, Raynham and Taunton, plans for the South Coast Rail are moving along with the goal of 15 percent design by July 1, 2015.
By Cody Shepard
The Enterprise
Posted Dec. 6, 2014 @ 8:58 pm
Updated Dec 7, 2014 at 8:04 AM
When deciding how to redevelop downtown Stoughton, the potential long-term impact of the South Coast Rail project is more than in the back of officials’ minds.
The project would extend the commuter rail to New Bedford and Fall River on the line that now ends in Stoughton. It would also run through Freetown, Lakeville, Berkley, Easton, Taunton and Raynham.
The project has taken small steps forward as teams from the Massachusetts Bay Transport Authority took soil samples as recently as last week on Main Street in Easton. Samples have also been taken in Lakeville, Raynham and Taunton to advance project design.
MBTA Deputy Press Secretary Kelly Smith said the samples are sent to a lab and the process, a necessary preliminary step, can take several weeks. She said the authority will take about 135 borings along the route. After samples are finished being taken in Taunton, the project will be on hold for the winter.
“We anticipate being at about 15 percent design by July 1st,” Kelly said.
In Stoughton, where the commuter rail currently ends, officials are excited about the prospect of what the South Coast Rail could bring to town paired with the redevelopment of downtown.
“I see the rail as an asset to the town,” Stoughton Selectman Bob O’Regan said. “For some investors, it would mean an opportunity they want to get ahead of.”
But the town has proposed moving the train station away from its current location. They would prefer that the station, combined with a large parking garage and businesses, take the place of the current police station on Rose Street.
“What some of us in government are trying to do are have the town work with the state to make the town an attractive positive investment,” O’Regan said. “If we can get the roadway through downtown configured in a way that doesn’t scare people away from driving downtown, more people will come.”
While the downtown redevelopment and rail projects are separate, Stoughton Redevelopment Authority Chairman Michael Barrett agreed that the future is on board members’ minds.
“A huge parking lot, with a below-grade train station and businesses, it would keep the train from two key intersections,” Barrett said if the station ends up on Rose Street. “It could become a real win-win. The State Theater alone would be more of a regional attraction.”
Barrett said he thinks the redevelopment will draw more people than the commuter rail.
“The actual South Coast Rail has offsetting factors that probably keep it more neutral,” he said.
As signs of design begin along the extended route, officials in some towns remain concerned about the future of the South Coast Rail.
In Easton, the plan is for the train to run underground on Main Street through historic downtown. In some places, it would be in residents’ backyards.
“The stations themselves aren’t the concern, it’s the train coming through if the downtown station is going to be where they say,” Easton selectmen Chairman Daniel Murphy said. “A lot of people are worried about their house values; we need to make sure we try to protect those people.”
The train in Easton would run through an existing underground tunnel which has since been filled with dirt. The town is adamant that the state dig further below the tunnel, not above.
“One of the conditions that the town has held to very strongly is that Main Street not be raised, that it be kept at the same grade,” Easton Land Use Agent Stephanie Danielson said.
Some businesses in Easton are welcoming the plan although, in its current state, it doesn’t include parking. The Children’s Museum is among them.
“We hope it’s going to be a positive impact and let more people know about the museum and get more people to us,” Executive Director Paula Peterson said. “I certainly think the revitalization is wonderful. Easton has so much to offer.”
Murphy isn’t as optimistic about the prospect of bringing more people to downtown Easton businesses. He said he doesn’t know why it would.
“I think most people think it will be more of a nuisance,” he said. “People in Easton have commuter rail options close already. It’s not going to cut down their commuting time at all.”
Raynham has similar concerns to Easton about the impact of traffic, but that’s why the town is requesting that the train run underground and not across Route 138, Selectman Joseph Pacheo said.
“If it didn’t go underground, we’d probably be pretty frustrated with the process,” Pacheo said.
Pacheco said he doesn’t see the rail drawing more people to town now that they lost the bid for a slot parlor license. There aren’t plans for other development.
“If they would have turned it into a high-class gaming establishment, it would have created a thousand jobs,” he said.
The plans are not final in any towns, though. Many are playing a waiting game and proposing alternatives or adjustments to the state’s plans.
“It’s a big question mark,” Barrett said.
