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  • "Jewelry Exchange in Sudbury!"

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"Jewelry Exchange in Sudbury!"

Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New England

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Re: "Jewelry Exchange in Sudbury!"

 #1604623  by BandA
 
The BRT + rail-trail study from 2011 that MaineCoonCat referenced https://www.mapc.org/wp-content/uploads ... report.pdf for a project that was obviously not going to be built, isn't as detailed as the study for power-line vault + rail-trail. But there were lots of interesting tidbits, plus it covers the full corridor not just Hudson & Sudbury.

A BRT + rail-trail is really just a paved road. Apparently there are 23 grade crossings (how is the rail-trail dealing with that?) They assumed a BRT line would not have traffic lights installed because ~$2.5M is too much, yet any new Commuter Rail crossing has to have signalized crossing, and any rail-trail crossing a road of any consequence would have a crosswalk signal. 23 grade crossings, 1 minute slowdown each --> +23 minutes delay, which is ridiculous. The other things that struck me as bizarre include that the ROW is narrowed by tree growth!! Obviously trees can/will be cut down for any project. Also narrow bridges are a constraint but if the bridge is totally missing that isn't a constraint.

Re: "Jewelry Exchange in Sudbury!"

 #1604642  by MaineCoonCat
 
BandA wrote: ↑Mon Aug 15, 2022 1:28 pm how is the rail-trail dealing with that?
That will be interesting in itself. The Peakham Road crossing was a bit unnerving when traveling eastbound as it is around a blind curve, in the days when the line was active. Unfamiliar motorists who didn't notice the round, yellow and black sign or the symbol painted on the roadway, occasionally were reminded as to what the term "panic stop" meant.

Google Earth photo. The grade crossing is about 50 metres/165 feet ahead, by the furthest visible utility pole.

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Re: "Jewelry Exchange in Sudbury!"

 #1608825  by troffey
 
MaineCoonCat wrote: ↑Wed Aug 03, 2022 4:16 pm such as creosote in the soil that will be disturbed. If any disturbance to these can be mitigated, then I'm okay with it.
Will they use pesticides? Of course they will, which is terrible and should be stopped!!
They'll need to come before the Conservation Commission before they try.
(OT) They would need to come before the Conservation Commission to utilize herbicides during construction. Once the ROW is active, maintenance uses of herbicides are exempt from Conservation Commission review as utility Vegetation Management Plans are reviewed and approved by the state DEP. The utility is required to give a Conservation Commission a 21 day notice of what and where they spray, but there is no real opportunity to stop the application at that point unless the approved VMP doesn't included herbicides.

Re: "Jewelry Exchange in Sudbury!"

 #1609671  by MaineCoonCat
 
Well, it appears work is underway. Monday I saw crews starting to clear the area at the Wayside Inn Station site (Dutton Road). Saw a crew from ET&L by the South Sudbury (Union) Station site (Union Ave.) . Looked like they were surveying.

Re: "Jewelry Exchange in Sudbury!"

 #1609736  by MaineCoonCat
 
Today's reconnaissance

↓↓ Union/South Sudbury Station ↓↓

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↓↓ Wayside Inn Station/Dutton Road Road ↓↓

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↓↓ White Pond Road (Hudson) ↓↓

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Re: "Jewelry Exchange in Sudbury!"

 #1609773  by MaineCoonCat
 
Today's reconnaissance

↓↓ Peakham Road ↓↓

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↓↓ Ordway Station/Parmenter Road (Hudson) ↓↓,
......East side only. No activity west of this point.

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Re: "Jewelry Exchange in Sudbury!"

 #1609781  by neman2
 
MaineCoonCat wrote: ↑Fri Nov 04, 2022 6:39 pm Today's reconnaissance

↓↓ Union/South Sudbury Station ↓↓[/size

↓↓ Wayside Inn Station/Dutton Road Road ↓↓[

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Nice picture of the huge " Stop Eversource "sign. You buy a house next to a railroad ROW and then protest what it becomes.

Re: "Jewelry Exchange in Sudbury!"

 #1609814  by BandA
 
Underground power line with a rail trail, sounds great for the neighbors. Not as good as commuter rail or industry that makes stuff...

Re: "Jewelry Exchange in Sudbury!"

 #1609916  by MaineCoonCat
 
BandA wrote: ↑Sun Nov 06, 2022 5:00 pm Underground power line with a rail trail, sounds great for the neighbors. Not as good as commuter rail or industry that makes stuff...
Actually, the rail trail is unpopular with many residents. Particularly abutters. Fear of possibly "unsavory characters" using it, apparently.

Re: "Jewelry Exchange in Sudbury!"

 #1609921  by ceo
 
[quote=MaineCoonCat post_id=1609916 time=1667876315 user_id=24373]
Actually, the rail trail is unpopular with many residents. Particularly abutters. Fear of possibly "unsavory characters" using it, apparently.
[/quote]
But my understanding is that the Bruce Freeman Trail, which also goes through Sudbury, is quite popular, and the town is spending a a lot of money to acquire the ROW and build the thing.

Re: "Jewelry Exchange in Sudbury!"

 #1609931  by craven
 
This is the same argument from the wealthy towns of Weston and Dover. They do not want "Those types of people in Their town". So much so that Medfield built their rail trail on the Millis to Needham ROW and it deadheads in the woods on the Dover town line. Needham built theirs from the Charles River bridge to Needham Junction

Re: "Jewelry Exchange in Sudbury!"

 #1609942  by MaineCoonCat
 
ceo wrote: ↑Mon Nov 07, 2022 10:43 pm But my understanding is that the Bruce Freeman Trail, which also goes through Sudbury, is quite popular, and the town is spending a a lot of money to acquire the ROW and build the thing.
The town did purchase the ROW south of the diamond. MBTA owns the ROW north of the diamond. It's my understanding that, as of now, the BFRT will terminate at Boston Post Road as Framingham has not done anything as far as continuation.

Town meeting has voted funds since 2014 to "design and build" and I do know there were some soil borings done (don't remember when) but I've yet to see anything visibly happening. There were a couple of DEP filings in 2016, 301-1174 and 301-1193. 1193 was something to do with a bridge, which in my fading memory I think was at Pantry Brook. 1174 was an ANRAD (Abbreviated Notice of Resource Area Delineation), locus: I don't know. From below, I calculate that the town has "invested" US$2,095,000 in this so far.

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..................................................Source: https://sudbury.ma.us/townmeeting/tmarticles/

Re: "Jewelry Exchange in Sudbury!"

 #1609964  by MaineCoonCat
 
Meanwhile, "Protect Sudbury" continues efforts to "derail" Eversource's plans. The following is copied from the email I received today.
On 11/08/2022 In an email titled : Protect Sudbury Newsletter, Ray Phillips, President, Protect Sudbury wrote: ..
..
................................. LEGAL STRATEGY
..
Our strategy remains steadfast - we continue to challenge the legality of the Eversource project on the basis that the rail corridor has never been legally abandoned
• A lawsuit “Harmed Landowners vs the MBTA” was filed Nov. 2, 2022 in Massachusetts Land Court. The lawsuit seeks to return land on the MBTA right of way to present day owners. If successful, those owners can prevent Eversource from installing a transmission line across their land. This case is supported by clear legal precedent in recent Mass. Land Court decisions of a similar nature.
• In addition, a new petition was filed this July by over 70 abutting property owners and businesses in Sudbury and Hudson. These citizens are being represented at the STB by Attorney Daniel Elliott, former STB Chair. The motion seeks an official declaration that the ROW is still considered an active (i.e., never abandoned) rail line and therefore still under STB jurisdiction.
• Support for the petition has come from Senators Markey and Warren as well as Congresswomen Katherine Clarke and Lori Trahan. Sudbury Valley Trustees has also expressed their support.
• If the STB confirms the line as active, the agreement between Eversource and the MBTA is open to legal challenge. Projects that involve active rail lines require approval by the STB, but in this case, the STB was never consulted. Thus, the lease agreement itself may very well be invalid as the STB has sweeping and undisputed jurisdictional authority.
..
..
......................... FURTHER IMPLICATIONS
..
• Once the STB makes its determination, the MBTA will likely attempt to abandon the rail line. This is a lengthy process that would provide us time to seek judicial relief. The STB process also requires a substantial amount of public input, allowing citizens to be heard at the federal level. The STB also closely examines the environmental impact of abandonment. Given the amount of documented environmental impact of the Eversource project, we believe that the abandonment would not be looked upon favorably by the STB.
• If the abandonment of the line was ultimately successful, land could be returned to current owners with reversionary rights.
Currently, Protect Sudbury is exploring the possibility of filing an injunction in federal district court to halt construction until the STB issues its declaratory order. To pursue these legal actions and move quickly, we need funds to cover anticipated legal costs to take our community’s case to a favorable conclusion. I once again call upon the generous giving spirit of the Protect Sudbury community to help raise the estimated $50,000 needed to put Sudbury in position to finish what we began almost 7 years ago.
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