Potential MBTA Southern NH Service

Red Wing wrote: ↑Tue Nov 29, 2022 8:38 pm I guess you want to add a stop at the Pheasant Lane mall then? Could even still be in Massachusetts.

I vaguely remember that when the Pheasant Lane mall was first built, about 10 feet of one corner of the Sears store was across the state line. Massachusetts of course declared that the entire store would have to collect sales tax because part of the store was in Massachusetts. And so Sears tore off that corner of the store and built a new exterior wall that was solidly in New Hampshire. I think the MBTA has suggested a stop at the south end of the mall, with the station and parking in Massachusetts.

I don't know how true the story was, but if it was it was more likely the JC Penney store. The Sears wall parallels the line, which is roughly where the sidewalk and road is along the southern side. The JCP building was built at an angle compared to the mall itself at that point, and if it was a perfect rectangle, the southern corner likely would have encroached into Mass. That corner was cut, but the sidewalk is curved in a way that I believe it could have been a square corner before.

Back on topic...I believe they did propose a stop within the Mass border, alongside the parking lot which has seen very little use in the past decade or so. Do I remember correctly another possible spot was somewhere between Old Navy and SkyVenture, on the old Grace Chemical superfund site?

According to page 10 of this power point on NHDOT's website, the entire South Nashua Station is planned to be entirely within the state of NH, with the garage and side parking bordering MA: https://www.nh.gov/dot/projects/nashuam ... 092021.pdf

Union Leader: Letter: NH needs clean energy
https://www.unionleader.com/opinion/let ... 78297.html

The state Department of Transportation has been studying Capitol Corridor rail since at least 2014, when it found a Manchester to Boston commuter rail line “the strongest alternative” for the overcrowded I-93/Route 3 corridor. Offshore wind has been studied since at least 2019 by the state Department of Environmental Services, but we’re still treading water.

I don't know what Mr Friedrichs is smoking but he doesn't make any compelling arguments. First, NH only has about 12 miles of shoreline, is this enough for wind projects? Second he thinks NH should take the lead regardless of the negative effects on NH of spending their own money.

18 miles. But still not very much...

No disrespect to the person who says train service is needed to/from Nashua because of the cost of living… but this isn’t a new thing. It was the case when I lived in southern NH ~15 years ago and long before that. For the entire time it was ignored. NH even plowed a ton of money into buses to run express service into Boston vs. putting any money into rail.

NEWS: "Commuter rail study goes off the tracks"
https://sports.yahoo.com/commuter-rail- ... 00725.html

Kevin Landrigan, The New Hampshire Union Leader, Manchester
Thu, December 22, 2022 at 4:12 AM EST·3 min read
Dec. 22—CONCORD — The Republican-led Executive Council voted Wednesday to terminate a $5.5 million engineering and financial study on restoring commuter rail service from Boston through Manchester.

Councilor David Wheeler, R-Milford, said stopping the work now would allow the Department of Transportation to divert $1.5 million that remains unspent to other mass transit services.

After the vote, Gov. Chris Sununu said the DOT would receive a report on the work the vendor has done to date. Supporters of the project could use those details to lobby for it to be included in the next 10-year highway plan, he said.

Work on the next highway plan starts with a planning process in the summer of 2023 and culminates in a proposal that Sununu must submit to the Legislature for final action during the 2024 legislative session.

ARTICLE: "Council Approves Funds for Firefighter’s Widow in Time for Christmas"
https://indepthnh.org/2022/12/21/counci ... christmas/

NO EXTENSION FOR MBTA RAIL FOR NASHUA AND MANCHESTER
The council voted down a nine-month extension for a study of extending the MBTA commuter rail line from Lowell, Mass., to Nashua and Manchester.

The $5.4 million federal contract was approved in 2020 and is 72 percent complete, but more time is needed to work with city officials on the rail plan, said William Cass, commissioner of the Department of Transportation who asked for the contract to be extended through September 2023.

Executive Councilor David Wheeler, R-Milford, said, “I think it’s time to pull the plug on this contract. We know that the project won’t pay for itself.”

Sununu said the contract runs through January and that a report is still needed on what was found and perhaps what gaps remain to develop the rail line.

Executive Councilor David Wheeler, R-Milford, said, “I think it’s time to pull the plug on this contract. We know that the project won’t pay for itself.”

I love this logic. It's actually brilliant. If we restrict state activities only to those that pay for themselves, NH can reduce all of its taxes to zero!

Schools don’t pay for themselves.

Public safety and fire departments don’t pay for themselves.

DPW departments don’t pay for themselves.

And roads don’t, either, for the most part.

That’s the nature of a public good.

If it was a federal grant and not completed can feds claw all it back?

Anybody surprised that the council voted to terminate the study? Yeah neither am I. While other New England states make plans to actively support passesenger rail, New Hampshire will continue to be the highway and automobile state while new passenger rail routes in the region will have to bypass New Hampshire as best as they can. Meanwhile New Hampshire will enjoy the 'default' passenger rail service consisting of the Downeaster and the Vermonter at Claremont. Perhaps in another ten or fifteen years, New Hampshire will conduct another 'study' on extending the Lowell line across the border to Nashua.

Even in the Vermonter's early days (1995-2003), there was no bike or baggage service at Claremont. Must been
NHDOT not willing to pay.

Speculation: What if feds say no more highway money if some Commuter rail is not started. May be just along the routes to boston?