Promise For Commuters In Fitchburg Rail Extension
A new commuter station in West Fitchburg broke ground this past fall, and while design work and land use negotiations are still going on, local real estate agents are hopeful about what it could mean for people living in the northwest corner of Worcester County.
“I think it’s a wonderful thing,” said Donna Brooks, owner of The Boss Realty Group & Brooks Auctions in Leominster. “Finally the forgotten people out here are going to get transportation—especially with the gas prices being what they are—into more metropolitan areas for jobs and entertainment.”
The Montachusett Regional Transit Authority (MRTA) is working with the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA) on the $55.5 million Wachusett Station project, which would extend the commuter rail line beyond its current terminus in downtown Fitchburg.
MRTA Administrator Mohammed Khan said the authority is negotiating the purchase or lease of some land around the intersection of Route 2 and Route 31.
The project is being paid for with federal stimulus funds.
Headed West
The land where the MRTA plans to build a layover facility for trains and a parking lot for commuters’ cars is owned by PanAm Railways, the Westminster Business Park and Omnova Solutions Inc., a manufacturer located at Fitchburg Industrial Park.
Khan said all those parties have an interest in a successful station.
PanAm will be working with the MBTA to run freight trains in the area more efficiently, he said, and companies at both industrial parks could benefit by getting better access to the freight lines.
“There are definitely private-sector benefits involved,” Khan said.
Khan said it’s not yet clear exactly where the structures will be built, and some land owned by the City of Fitchburg may also be in play.
He said once the land ownership and engineering issues are resolved, much of the station construction should happen before the end of 2011.
Along with rail improvements to bring the time from Fitchburg to Boston down to about an hour, Khan said the new station should make the train more attractive to commuters from as far away as Athol and Orange.
Curb Appeal
Tom Woodward, a real estate agent with Coldwell Banker in Leominster, said many people shopping for homes in communities like Gardner and Hubbardston see the ease of commuting east as a significant factor in their decisions.
He said more and more people are interested in the commuter train, but having to drive all the way into downtown Fitchburg can be an annoyance.
“It turns a lot of people off because they have to go so far off Route 2,” Woodward said.
For commuters driving east on Route 2, it takes about as long to either drive into Fitchburg or continue east to the next station on the line, which is located right off the highway in Leominster.
But Khan said the Leominster parking lot typically fills up fairly early each morning.
At the Wachsuett station, the immediate plan is to make space for about 300 cars to park, but Khan said it could eventually include a structure with room for as many as 1,500 vehicles.
Currently, people in the northwestern section of Central Massachusetts spend an unusual amount of time on the road.
An analysis by MassGIS and the Metropolitan Area Planning Council found that Hubbardston households averaged 110 miles a day on the road, the highest in the region.
Households in Phillipston, Rutland, Templeton, Ashburnham and Ashby also averaged more than 95 miles a day.
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