Commuter rail for Blackstone Valley gains steam

WOONSOCKET - The key to northern Rhode Island's future prosperity rests with a successful commuter rail system, said state and local officials Monday.

"A totally new" Rhode Island, where thousands of residents ride public transit in affordable convenience, may be closer to a reality than at first thought, say proponents of an intrastate commuter rail, which they say would inevitably bring transit-oriented development, economic development, and a cleaner environment, among benefits.

More than 100 officials from all over Rhode Island met for a "Congressional Breakfast" co-sponsored by the Northern Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce and the Pawtucket Foundation at the old Woonsocket Train Depot Monday. Many at the breakfast, one that brought together public and private entities, detailed the need for a commuter rail system serving patrons from Woonsocket to Pawtucket, and as far south as Wickford Junction in North Kingstown.

Progress on what was once a "pipe dream" of a commuter rail station at T.F. Green Airport, said representatives from the state Department of Transportation, should give confidence to those who envision rail stops one day in places like Woonsocket, Cumberland, and Pawtucket.

The T.F. Green stop is now only about a year away from completion, DOT Director Michael Lewis told a group of leaders that included U.S. Sen. Jack Reed and mayors from a number of municipalities, among others.

"Growth is going to be in transit," Lewis told those in attendance Monday. "That is where we need to make investment in Rhode Island."

John Gregory, president and chief executive officer of the Northern Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce, said Monday that a rail system should be part of "a coordinated, regional vision for multi-modal transportation investments," including a better bus system and linked bikeways extended through Rhode Island's urban communities.

Leaders Monday spoke of the need to explore a commuter rail in an area of Rhode Island that not only has rail infrastructure already in place, but densely populated neighborhoods that will supply the demand.

Commuters to Boston, commuters and shoppers heading to Providence, and now those seeking an easy ride to the airport will all supply the demand to make sure money invested in a commuter rail does not go to waste, said officials.

The intrastate rail plan as currently constituted would mean an additional 34 trains traveling through northern Rhode Island in addition to the 68 trains that currently travel non-stop from South Attleboro to the downtown Providence station, said DOT officials.

Reed backed the popular sentiment that a commuter rail through much of Rhode Island should be a high priority, promising that he will do his best in whatever capacity possible to make an intrastate rail system a reality. An intrastate system is one located entirely within the borders of a state.

"Clearly the importance of this is demonstrated by the number of people who are here," said Reed on Monday.

Reed told those in attendance that a commuter rail "has to be pursued vigorously" and the obstacles that continue to stand in the way removed.

DOT officials commended Pawtucket leaders Monday for taking the lead in demonstrating the need for a Pawtucket/Central Falls railroad stop by committing $360,000 in funds to help access $1.96 million federal earmark for a Federal Transit Administration grant.

"Local involvement is so important," Lewis told the assembled crowd. "The squeaky wheel does get the grease."

"For a city to step up and say, 'Here's our $300,000,' that says a lot to us at the state," said Steve Devine, chief of intermodal planning with the DOT. "We're very supportive and will continue looking at anything that will help our highway system."

Pawtucket leaders have formally requested that the DOT submit a funding request to the FTA for preliminary engineering for a Pawtucket/Central Falls commuter rail stop between the Conant Street and Dexter Street bridges next to the Providence and Worcester Rail Yard. Pawtucket's Planning and Redevelopment Director Michael Cassidy has been meeting with both the DOT, officials from the FTA, and property owners as he prepares to submit a funding application.

Following a preliminary engineering study by Jacobs Engineering Group indicating that an intrastate rail system is feasible, the next goal of the Pawtucket Foundation and its executive director Thomas Mann is to have a more in-depth regional feasibility analysis, focused on an intrastate rail proposal to create service from Woonsocket to T.F. Green Airport with stops in between, completed.

According to Mann, elevating the profile of the Pawtucket/Central Falls commuter rail stop is of utmost importance to an area where thousands of potential commuters live within a short distance of the proposed location.

The reason for Monday's meeting, said Mann, was to promote a common vision among all parties interested in an intrastate rail system and to be "strategic" and focused in how those parties achieve their goals.

"We can't just be spreading money across the state like peanut butter," said Mann.

A representative for the DOT said this week that even though some claimed as recently as last week that construction of Pawtucket's commuter rail stop would get under way "shortly" after T.F. Green's stop is finished next year, that is not necessarily true. A Pawtucket station is still subject to a number of agreements and a feasibility study, say representatives from the DOT.

The "key element" that continues to be "a stumbling block" in the effort to expand a commuter rail system is the matter of liability along a rail spur that runs from Boston Mass., to Washington D.C., according to Lewis.

Also facing the DOT as it seeks to improve Rhode Island's transportation infrastructure is a limited funding mechanism that makes the agency heavily dependent on the state's gas tax.

If as many as 6,000 additional Rhode Islanders are traveling the tracks instead of the highways each day, said Lewis, the obvious question to be asked is where the needed money will come from for the already cash-strapped agency.

Nevertheless, said those from the DOT, a limited supply of land and other obstacles facing planners in the Northeast make redevelopment of resources already in place - like the northeast corridor's rail spur - necessary for major economic development.