Proposal To Ease Congestion At W. Natick Train Stop
EILEEN KENNEDY
A new road next to the tracks pictured above could ease congestion at the West Natick train stop.
A proposed connection between the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's West Natick train station and the MetroWest Regional Transit Authority's Framingham base could help with traffic congestion and promote more public transportation use in the area.
MWRTA Administrator Ed Carr wants to make that connection and knew in June when he moved the authority to a new site at 37 Waverly St. (Route 135) in Framingham that he could spearhead the project.
It was probably the view from the back of the building that sold him on the site. The platforms of the MBTA's West Natick station can be seen can be seen in the distance.
"I saw it and I thought: What if we paved along the right-of-way from our base to the station and ran buses back forth? I mean, we can do this," Carr said.
Going The Distance
The proposed connection would run about a half mile along the train tracks from behind the MWRTA office to the West Natick station. Carr's plan is to pick up commuters along the MWRTA's shuttle route and ferry them to the station. The new road would reduce congestion at the existing entrance to the West Natick station and relieve some parking pressures there.
The West Natick stop has only 178 parking spaces, according to the MBTA web site. The parking is so bad there the MBTA is considering adding spaces to bring the total up to 500, according to Carr.
The MWTRA will conduct a feasibility plan, then file a formal plan this fall.
"It's a very exciting idea," said state Sen. Karen Spilka, D-Ashland, who advocated for the creation of the MWRTA a couple of years ago and was a supporter of the authority's Route 9 shuttle between the MBTA's Green Line and the Framingham Technology Park.
"The more we can do to increase the use of public transportation, the better off we all are," she added.
Spilka said safety is her one concern and Carr said fencing would be put up to keep people from crossing the railroad tracks or getting too close to them.
The projected is estimated at between $1 million and $2 million. The authority's landlord already leases space from the MBTA behind the building and it would be a continuation from there down to the train station.
The authority is leasing the building at 37 Waverly St. as it remakes the space for its own purposes, and has an option to buy the property, Carr said.
Carr has experience connecting his agency to the MBTA. In March, the MWRTA received the money and the green light to start a bus service along Route 9 that runs between the Framingham Technology Park and the MBTA's Green Line Woodland Station in Newton. It took him two years of talking about it, planning it, and submitting grants before it became a reality.
The new facility, which is on the same street as its first location, brings more than potential connections to the MBTA.
The new MWRTA headquarters is more functional and is closer to a residential section of town, with more people coming to the new location on foot.
"In square footage it is slightly less space than our old location but there's a lot more useable space for us," Carr said. There will be a large bay with room for two buses to be worked on at the same time, along with more office space and a call/dispatch center.
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