Speaking of the northern main, looks like an MBTA extension just might happen after all. This article is from the Lowell Sun newspaper today;
Chelmsford wants station if rail extended to Nashua
By PETER WARD, Sun Staff
CHELMSFORD While Nashua officials took a giant step closer to a railroad station for the proposed $70 million Lowell-to-Nashua rail line extension, Chelmsford officials were left wondering why it appears Massachusetts doesn't support a depot in the Bay State.
Town Manager Bernard Lynch has asked the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority why it omitted a hoped-for station in the agency's capital investment program for 2005-2010.
Lynch acknowledged that the fate of the proposed 20-mile extension was uncertain based on New Hampshire's past reluctance to contribute to the project.
"However, we feel it is important that the MBTA remain committed to such a station if the proposed service extension is implemented," Lynch wrote to Ike Papadopoulos, the MBTA's deputy director of the budget.
He noted that the MBTA in 2002 prepared a $35,000 feasibility study showing that a proposed station in North Chelmsford was justified and would serve an estimated 1,000 boardings daily.
But just because the agency didn't include the station in its long-term capital program doesn't mean it doesn't support the rail extension, said Lydia Rivera, a spokeswoman.
"We're waiting for New Hampshire to allocate funds," she said.
Toward that end, Nashua aldermen this week voted 14-1 to endorse a mechanism to pay for the commuter station within its boundary.
By allowing a special incremental tax district including the station and retail in a concentrated area, the special district could raise revenue and allow the city to float a bond for $14 million the amount New Hampshire needs to trigger release of $25 million to $56 million in federal funds earmarked for the project.
"They cleared a logjam by identifying a way to pay the matching funds, so now we can go to Department of Transportation and say, 'OK, the city will pay the matching,'" said Stephen Williams, executive director of the Nashua Regional Planning Commission.
Though the location hasn't been selected, city officials have focused on a site near Spit Brook Road.
Nashua's action marks a reversal.
In April, the New Hampshire Supreme Court dealt the project a blow, saying the state was barred from using a proposed increase in the gasoline tax to pay for the project. In 2002, the state's Executive Council voted against paying for an environmental study. Williams said some changes in personnel on the council could bode well for the project.
The line's extension would require adding a second track along part of the Merrimack River. It's seen as a way to alleviate traffic on local highways and reduce parking congestion at Lowell's Gallagher Terminal.
Former Chelmsford Selectman Thomas Moran, a key supporter, said the MBTA has been supportive and that's it's important for the town to keep it that way.
"I don't know. Maybe our inattention allowed the MBTA to walk away a little bit," Moran said.
Peter Ward's e-mail address is
[email protected] .
I wonder, though, if another reason for the slowdown is the proximity to the river and traffic. Probably not...