Re: T construction news
Above is the land-clearing for the Haverhill Line's new layover yard on Hilldale Ave. near the NH state line. Last month it was
quietly reported that the T was finally going along with 2 decades of abutter lobbying to relocate out of the substandard Bradford layover space, which is far too small to support any increased service levels and has inadequate noise and emission buffer from the adjacent residential neighborhood. A budget was approved for acquiring new property, but at the time we didn't know where.
Now we do. It's "Alternative 6" from the Plaistow extension study--the only layover option that was in MA instead of NH--except flipped to the other side of the tracks so the access driveway can go on Hilldale Ave. instead of across the state line to NH 126 where Town of Atkinson, NH would surely block. The area is pure 1970's industrial park with very widely separated buildings; absolutely no abutters to bother. Atkinson will probably assemble a citizen's militia to storm the border in opposition, but they can't touch this from across the state line (not even on a fumes/noise claim, because they're just not close enough proximity to it to make a plausible EPA claim).
The surprising thing is how stealthy they were not only in acquiring the vacant property but also doing the prelim land-clearing. As far as I can tell the FCMB has never said a peep about this, and we don't even know if there's construction funding secured beyond the ongoing land-clearing. No track schematics available either (if they've even been drafted yet) telling how much capacity the new layover will have. If it's as big as Newburyport and Westminster--pretty much the standard size for new construction--it should allow for substantial Haverhill service increases (albeit probably by supplemental Lowell Line+Wildcat trains as Reading Line capacity is pretty tapped out). Additionally, with Bradford being vacated that station gains the ability to be rebuilt as full-highs with passing tracks by repurposing the old yard tracks for space. Passing tracks there would do enormous good at staging meets and overtakes of Downeasters and freights right before the bridge.
Oh yes, and the T still owns the station property for
Rosemont St., a stop that was slated to be built for 1981 until a severe budget crisis canceled it. Rosemont's 2-1/3 miles north of Haverhill Station, and 2/3 mile south of this new layover. It would limit the non-revenue mileage to/from Haverhill Station while offering up a good catchment of its own in a part of town that's inaccessible to Haverhill Station. Residential to the west, MA 125 and MVRTA bus Route 13 a couple thousand feet East. And the 495 interchange is about 1500 ft. south of the intersection with MA 125. The available station real estate would only hold a small parking lot, but the enormous 350,000 sq. feet auto junkyard next door would serve up superb TOD and more parking capacity.
Let's see if they end up feeling as stealth about the station property they already own as the layover property they've only owned for a few weeks.
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