Rail Rally
Nearly two years ago, former Gov. Michael Dukakis came to Worcester to chide as absurd the state and freight rail giant CSX for an administrative impasse that was holding up the development of increased passenger rail between Worcester and Boston.
It was an embarrassment, he said, that Massachusetts couldn’t manage to connect South Station and North Station in its capitol city or add passenger trips on the 23-mile stretch between Worcester and Boston while Europe’s major cities are connected across international borders by efficient, high-speed lines.
Dukakis was right, and after the so-called “Statewide Rail Summit” at which he spoke, it didn’t seem as if there was much hope for people and businesses in New England’s two largest cities to be connected by rail to any greater extent than they were at the time.
It was estimated then that passenger rail between Worcester and Boston met about half the demand for such service.
Home Run
Since then, the effort has taken great steps, capped late last month by CSX’s proposal to expand its Franklin Street freight terminal to make Worcester, not Boston, its New England hub.
This, combined with the agreement finally reached last year between the state and CSX that will allow for as many as 20 more passenger round trips per day between Worcester and Boston, is a boon for the city.
Much of the credit belongs to Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray, the city’s former mayor. Now, we must hope that the city council can act with some of the same energy and force.
But while the council has said it will conduct an expedited review of CSX’s plans for the terminal, individual councilors have publicly groused about the “host of issues to deal with.”
CSX operates the 23-acre facility along Franklin Street parallel to Shrewsbury Street and just east of Interstate 290. Its plans call for expanding that facility to 51 acres by acquiring 11 privately owned commercial properties and portions of public streets near the yard.
If all goes as planned, the expansion could be complete by late 2012 and would create hundreds construction jobs in the process.
“We will not be a rubber stamp,” said one councilor. Even former mayor Konstantina Lukes, now a councilor-at-large, said she was concerned about any negative effects the yard’s expansion would have on newly successful areas of the city, like Shrewsbury Street and the Canal District.
These are striking statements from a council that has a history of passing up perfectly good development opportunities in order to wait for a home run. It makes us question whether many councilors’ desire for economic growth isn’t outweighed by its fear of change.
This project is a home run, and it would be a shame to see Murray’s efforts to make the $100 million investment in Worcester a reality squandered over what councilors called “the impact of street closings and zoning changes.”
Councilors must also have the maturity and foresight to realize that this project is a just a first step for Worcester. The project, while it does in fact represent significant and immediate growth for the Franklin Street rail yard, is more appropriately viewed as a platform for future growth for the city. The fact that some councilors seem to view the project as either an end unto itself or a threat to other areas of the city should be disheartening to businesses, residents and voters alike.
Cities focused on growing their commercial base support heavy commerce. They allow residents and workers to move to and fro efficiently. Until the connection between Worcester and Boston is made as easy as it should be, and until the city is seen as a legitimate center of commerce and industry, growth will suffer.
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