Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Grand Junction Passenger Service - Kathy Podgers Comment

Kathy Podgers has the following comments on the Grand Junction Passenger Service concept, tabled by MassDOT:

It is a shame that planners failed to connect So and No Station during the Big Dig. In addition, failing to plan for increased rail, and therefore enough space for rail at So Station, because of being focused on the 'Inner Belt' aka 'Urban Ring,' is no excuse for building more highways for busses thru our residential neighborhoods.

I am also opposed to the plan to bus people from Kenmore Sq area, over the BU bridge, thru Cambridgeport, and on to Kendal Sq. Is there no end, whatsoever, for mindboggeling waste of money?

What the MBTA and the GOV should focus on is connecting the Blue Line to the Red Line.

Another gigantic mistake is failure to construct Hi Speed Rail between Boston and DC, thru NYC, with possible spurs from Portland to Boston, DC to Richmond, and Phildelphia thru Harrisburgh, to Pittsburgh, with a future possibility of continuing on North, to Buffalo on to Toronto and Ottawa, and West to Cleveland on to Chicago.

I personally believe that if the so called bail out moola and the QE2 had funded this HSR we would now be out of the real recession, and unemployment would be a thing of the past. Instead, in their continued short sighted, panic mode, only 'shovel ready' projects were even considered.

MassDOT posts Grand Junction Materials

We have reported on MassDOT’s shelving of the concept of passenger service on the Grand Junction railroad which runs through the Destroyed Nesting Area of the Charles River White Geese. It crosses the Charles River on the railroad bridge under the BU Bridge.

It was subtly being pushed by the Cambridge Pols. The Pols kept on saying “You can’t win.” As usual, the pols deviated from reality.

MassDOT has announced the posting of their materials at http://www.massdot.state.ma.us/planning/GrandJunctionTransportationStudy.aspx (sorry, blogger is not allowing direct links).

The Boston Globe has also reportsed MassDOT’s shelving of commuter trains on Grand Junction.

An extended quote has been posted on the Cambridgeport listserve.

If anybody can provide a link to the Boston Globe report, I would love to post it.