Nashua NH OKs bond for commuter rail station

News article:

http://www.1590.com/Stories/0,1413,222~ ... 35,00.html

Though the location hasn't been selected, city officials have focused on a site near Spit Brook Road.

That's disappointing. Not a very good way to serve the actual city of Nashua. I hope they'll reconsider and put the station in the center of town where it belongs.

If the service to Nashua happens and the official station site is not in or walkable from downtown, that would just be like transit extending the RVL to a park and ride lot off 78 in Bloomsbury even though Phillipsburg is the official end of the line. I guess no room in Nashua, just like Phillipsburg.

This is very good to hear that they will be extending the line to Nashua but I would have to disagree that there is a Parking crunch in Lowell I walk threw the Garage 4 days a week and there are atleast 200-400 free spaces empty in the gargae everyday.

or just like Ashland where the station is a mile away from downtown. You just have to drive to get there, or do what i do, walk a mile.

I would like to see service to downtown locations but it seems that a lot of the direction in planning these projects is strictly focused on removing cars from the local highway system. A lot of our downtowns are no longer the "hustling and bustling" centers of commerce and travel they once were. Open land is also at a premium downtown which seems to point towards locating these regional transit centers near highways. The open land for huge parking lots seems to be the attraction. These regional transit centers can generate a lot more volume than downtown stations that can be difficult to get to if you are coming in off the highway.

Still I think that these planners need to think these things out more. We are now just starting to hear people talking about developments around transit centers where people can access transit without a car. Wow what a revolutionary idea (lol). Planners are talking about it like it is some new concept they have just thought of (lol). In cases like this, downtown stations make perfect sense. For now though NH commuters will be lucky to get anything. For a state that depends on transportation New Hampshire has a terrible track record (no pun intended) supporting any regional rail activity.

Oops, Bloomsbury would be the unofficial end of the line for the RVL. If MBTA goes to Nashua, it should end as close to downtown as you can. Nashua is just over the mass line.

This actually makes a lot of sense. Placing the commuter rail station in downtown Nashua would be ridiculous because a) it's not the most savory part of town b) there is no large parking garage to serve the number of cars there and no space to build one and c) very few people living in downtown Nashua will have a need to use the commuter rail.

Far better to put the station where there is an easy on-off access to the highway that can limit the commuter traffic on city streets.

Actually there is a ton of business along Daniel Webster Highway in South Nashua near the proposed location, as well as some hotels. Additionally, such a location would provide reasonable access to the Pheasant Lane Mall as well.

A new service today would need suburban, highwayside stations with big parking lots. Downtown Nashua would be nice, but it would not bring 'em in by the ton. I think Spit Brook is probably the best place, considering how the train will be used by people who live all up and down FE Everett Turnpike, and they will need to park their cars. When I lived in New Hampshire (in the Sununu days) I often though how easy it would have been to use the South end of Pheasant Lane Mall's parking lot (which is in Mass.) as a T commuter rail station. The service has to be successful from the get-go. There still are a lot of Granite State Granite heads who think trains aren't worth it.

Strictly Boston-commuting wise, the main use, a downtown location isn't that critical. They may get
to it as part of a second phase of rail to Manchester.

Don't you want a station that as many people can walk to as possible? That means putting it in the densest neighborhood that the tracks run through.

I agree with you Ron. My sister and her family used to live on Granite St in Nashua, in a fairly dense neighborhood within easy walking distance to Downtown. Downtown Nashua would be a prime location for a CR station, well within walking distances to residential, retail and office spaces. I suspect, however, that soon after the opening of a South Nashua station, demand for a Downtown station would rise.

I'd hope so, but the Newburyport station was put in the wrong place, and there hasn't been enough (or any) clamor for another one downtown. Ditto for Plymouth.

Ron Newman wrote:Don't you want a station that as many people can walk to as possible? That means putting it in the densest neighborhood that the tracks run through.

For rapid transit and light rail that is true, but for commuter rail that's not the case. Putting it in a place where a larger number of commuters can get access to it is more important than having it in the middle of a busy city. It's not called commuter rail for nothing...

And if there has to be access to the city, have the bus service provider up in Nashua run service to the new commuter rail terminal from downtown Nashua.