Fitchburg Track Improvements Derailed
Photo/Courtesy
Jeffrey Mullan, Secretary of the new Massachusetts Department of Transportation.
Recent shakeups at the state’s new Massachusetts Department of Trans-portation, along with tight budget constraints, are slowing the process to begin major construction work on improvements to the Fitchburg commuter rail line.
Montachusett Area Transit Authority administrator Mohammed Kahn said funding for the $150 million project is in place, including $75 million from the federal government and another $75 million from the state.
But to draw from the federal allocations requires an equal match from the state. That matching money is sitting in a transportation bond bill that has not yet been released.
Kahn said he expects a decision on the bond money to be made by January.
Bureaucratic Changes
Furthermore, staff shakeups at the new Massachusetts Department of Transportation, which included merging five separate departments into one overarching agency, have created some delays.
Kahn said MART is waiting on a new permanent general manager of the Massa-chusetts Bay Transportation Authority — which is overseeing the project — to be assigned.
The project is still moving forward, however, thanks to nearly $40 million in stimulus money that had not originally been planned for. That will allow some signal crossings to be upgraded and station platforms to be improved.
The major work, totaling another $150 million, will install double tracks along 8 miles of the route and will replace rail bedding to allow the trains to go up to 80 miles per hour at some portions of the route. Kahn said the trains currently travel between 30 and 55 miles per hour.
State transportation officials said they expect the project to be complete by December 2013, allowing Fitchburg commuters to travel to Cambridge’s Porter Square in less than one hour.
Meanwhile, plans are also moving forward for the state to purchase CSX Transportation rail lines along the Framingham-Worcester commuter rail line for $100 million, according to state Transportation Secretary Jeffrey Mullan.
The Patrick administration announced in late November the sale is being reviewed by the federal Surface Transportation Board.
All Aboard
The rail line currently is used by both passenger and freight trains, but CSX has priority because it owns the rails. That can cause delays and limits the number of trains coming to Worcester.
State Sen. Karen Spilka, who represents Framingham, said the project has come out of a “log jam” since Gov. Deval Patrick has taken office, but still the process is slow.
Furthermore, Spilka said local officials are hoping the project will be carefully reviewed because the rail lines go directly through Framingham’s downtown, slowing traffic and downtown activity when a train passes.
Still, Spilka said the project is important and she is happy to see progress.
Mullan said he expects the first phase of the purchase to be complete by May, and as CSX moves its operations center out off of the line, the state will be able to continue to increase services.
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments