by crash575
Belmont officials are proposing to build a pedestrian underpass near the high school. I think it's a great idea but there probably isn't any money for it.
Town officials eye MBTA tunnel
By Christian Schiavone
Belmont Citizen-Herald
Belmont, Mass. - Prompted by the death of a Belmont High School student last month, officials are taking a fresh look at building a tunnel underneath the MBTA tracks to draw students and pedestrians away from the popular but dangerous cut-through.
The Selectmen said during their Nov. 30 meeting that the death of Jessica Chu, a 17-year-old senior killed as she apparently attempted to cross the tracks behind the school, served as a reminder of the dangers pedestrians face crossing the tracks. The board voted unanimously to send a letter to the MBTA inquiring about possible funding for a tunnel and whether the transportation authority, which owns the tracks and surrounding property, would even consider the project.
“We have an ongoing problem and this was certainly precipitated by a recent death,” said Selectman Angelo Firenze. “We should go on the record as soon and as forcibly as we possibly can.”
The tracks are private property and walking on or along them is considered trespassing. But warnings from school administrators and even arrests have failed to deter students from the allure of a path that cuts up to 15 minutes from a commute between the Winn-Brook neighborhood and the high school.
Chu, who lived just across the tracks from the school, was killed about 250 yards from the nearest designated crossing, according to the MBTA.
Firenze said it would be easier to build a footbridge over the tracks, but with a required 40-foot clearance, it’s unlikely students would climb a network of ramps four stories high when they could continue to walk across the tracks.
It’s not the first time town officials have floated the idea of a pedestrian tunnel. In 1983, Town Meeting voted to create a five-member Underpass Study Committee in response to the death of a high school student the year before. The committee compiled a report that estimated the cost of a tunnel linking Alexander Avenue Extension with the high school playing fields would be a total of about $500,000 and rejected the idea as too costly.
The selectmen said in today’s dollars, that cost would be much higher. But they said they will investigate whether there could be funding available through the state or federal governments or the MBTA.
The selectmen were skeptical that the MBTA, which is facing financial troubles of its own, would come through with any major funding for the project. But Dan Leclerc, chairman of the Board of Selectmen, said that might change if the town pushes for an underpass as a condition for the MBTA’s desire to consolidate the town’s two stations into one.
“That could be a leverage point for us,” he said.
Officials have tried other means to stop pedestrians from crossing the tracks over the years. In 1998 and 1999, MBTA police conducted arrest stings that nabbed 20 Belmont High School students for trespassing.
The Belmont Citizens Forum is also eyeing property along the tracks for a walking/bike path. Leclerc said one potential option would be to build a tunnel in conjunction with the creation of such a path, though that would require involvement of several other state agencies.
