The Little Engine that Couldn't

The long road ahead for the South Coast Rail

By MEREDITH CAPLAN

del.ico.us | digg it! | reddit!

print | email | 3 Comments

Southeastern Massachusetts, home to Attleboro, Taunton, Fall River, New Bedford ... and all those other towns inaccessible to Boston by public transit since 1959. Though city-dwellers may not typify the south coast as bustling with culture and economic activity, Gov. Deval Patrick has promised to revive the long-dead South Coast Rail project, an effort to connect downtown Boston to the only area within a 50-mile radius of the city that doesn't have a rail running through it.

The region was once accessible by the Old Colony Line branches of the MBTA, which consisted of a Middleborough/Lakeville line and Plymouth/Kingston line. The Old Colony Lines were leased by the New Haven Railroad, but the company went bankrupt, and trains were forced to run by court order until the Southeast Expressway (I-93) opened in 1959.

As cars became the preferred mode of transportation over the past 50 years, the federal government built up interstate highways and abandoned long-distance public transportation systems like railroads. Now, as roads grow congested and gas creeps to astronomical prices, the demand for public transit has returned; MBTA ridership grew by 6.2 percent since January. At a South Coast Rail civic engagement meeting in May, Kristina Egan, South Coast Rail manager at the Executive Office of Transportation and Public Works (EOT), said she saw the MBTA's pet project as an indication of a larger trend. "My feeling is that, in the United States, we need to build a lot more transit," she said.

Plans to re-establish a rail along the south coast first emerged in the early '90s, and in 1995, Gov. William Weld committed to the project. The state's Transportation Bond Bill was to fund a rail running through Attleboro that reached the south coast cities. The project stagnated; delays were announced in 2002, and the Romney administration was reluctant to invest in big MBTA projects. In 2007, through Patrick's efforts, the project was reintroduced with a bond bill.

As part of the resurrection, monthly civic engagements are held to promote discussion about the project. Companies, organizations and concerned citizens can attend for updates from the EOT. Because the South Coast Rail project impacts up to 14 acres of wetland, the EOT and MBTA must apply to the US Army Corps of Engineers, under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. The Army Corps of Engineers and the EOT must complete a coordinated Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report (expected to be finished in 2010), for the final proposal. To start the process for the Army Corps, scoping meetings will be scheduled in the fall.

The four major routes being considered—referred to as "alternatives"—all have setbacks. Attleboro, Middleboro and Stoughton, the rail alternatives, would extend or run along existing commuter rail routes, but the expansion threatens areas of environmental concern. The fourth route, the "highway alternative," is a bus line that would run along Route 24 in a zipper lane. This solution is much cheaper than the rail options, but the buses' capacity would only serve one-fourth of the south's public transit commuters, according to Egan.

The Attleboro alternative would use an electrified rail and pass through Back Bay, but it would also require new track that would disturb wetlands. Use of the Middleboro alternative requires laying down track along an existing line in Quincy and Braintree, but it would run only three trains during peak hours. The Stoughton alternative is the fastest and most direct route, but it bisects two swamps. The MBTA analyzed six possible routes in a Draft Environmental Impact Report in 2000, and Stoughton was deemed the most feasible in 2002.

Greg Guimond, transportation specialist with the Southeast Regional Planning and Economic Development District (SRPEDD), a Taunton public agency consisting of local officials and delegates, says his organization favors restoration of the commuter rail service that closed in 1959. SRPEDD is working with the EOT, but will not take a position until the EOT chooses its preferred route. "Our main concern is doing the best project possible for the region," Guimond says. "There is a broad consensus by a number of different people that transport is key." He suggests there's a link between city transit and prosperity, citing towns such as Attleboro that have access to a commuter rail and are economically in much better health than locations further south.

Still, Guimond is weary that the rail will never be a reality because of failed promises from half a dozen past governors. "We are hopeful," he says "Further south people say, 'We are tired of talk. We want to see some progress.'"

Although many south coast residents are excited about an easy Boston commute, not everyone is content with the route options. Citizens Concerned About Tracks (CCATS) was formed in 1995 to prevent the South Coast Rail's Attleboro alternative, the route chosen in 1999, just before plans stalled.

"We certainly had an impact the first time around, because the powers at be decided to drop Attleboro for any further consideration," says Heather Graf, coordinator of CCATS. She says the Attleboro alternative has track crossing roads at street-level in 15 places in the center of Taunton, impacts wetlands and places track in high-tension areas.

The Attleboro proposal's new incarnation would add a third track through Canton into the city, but the route would also interfere with Fowl Meadow, an area designated by the state secretary of energy and environmental affairs as having significant natural and cultural resources. Graf says the best alternative for the South Coast Rail is Stoughton. Yet, there are undoubtedly critics of that route because it bisects the Hockomock Swamp that provides drinking water for surrounding towns.

The mayors and city councils of Taunton and Attleboro, along with most of the state legislature, support CCATS, according to Graf. "[The Attleboro alternative] is unacceptable for the city of Taunton," she says. "With the cost of the construction, the operation, the ridership ... it is not the sensible way to go." CCATS volunteers go door-to-door and send mailings to generate resident participation. Members attend the MBTA's civic meetings if they are located on the south coast.

Lack of funding is also jeopardizing the future of the South Coast Rail. Patrick passed a bond bill in the fall of 2007 to pay for environmental permitting, design, public outreach and economic and land use studies. There is no proposal for the $1.4 billion project's creation.

Kyla Bennett, Easton resident and director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility's New England chapter, opposes building any commuter rail. "It's fiscally irresponsible," she says. "I don't believe that the number of rides will warrant the amount of money spent."

Regardless of efforts to be environmentally friendly, Bennett insists the air quality of the region will worsen and ultimately create added pollution if a rail is created. "It's a fact of life— if you build a train, within months or a year the same amount of traffic will be on the road," she says. The Stoughton line, which is rumored to be the frontrunner of all the alternatives, is still environmentally damaging, according to Bennett. She favors an alternative that would create a lane on Route 24 for electric and hybrid buses. She says it's useless to make the stations and parking lots green if diesel fuel will be used for power. "They are going about it the wrong way," she says, adding that using fossil fuel would counteract any other green efforts because of diminishing resources.

Guimond acknowledges that some green efforts may be futile. If the line is electrified, that would require coal, a cheaper alternative to gas. Although it would be better for the immediate area, but ultimately the air quality would not improve. But Guimond says he appreciates that Egan is open to all green alternatives, because in the past the EOT was less willing to consider greener options. "It's encouraging to see the state investigating this," he says.

"How can we grow without wrecking things?" Egan asked at the last civic engagement meeting held in Boston. She said the demographics are changing in the region and attitudes are similarly shifting. "People have told me this plan is basically putting a smart growth plan down, and a train will run through it," Egan added. The goal is to open the service by 2016, she says. "We know there's a real need for this kind of construction."

Bennett does not think the new rail will promote much economic revitalization. "The best thing is for people to live where they work," she says, adding that the kind of jobs Boston has to offer are not worth the hassle of a three-hour daily commute. She believes that southeast residents would prefer the state invest billions of dollars in their economic revitalization rather than build a rail.

But any concerns with interruptions of towns, traffic congestion and environmental damages raised by residents at the civic engagement meeting were addressed by Egan with the same response: "Nothing is concrete."