WEYMOUTH, Mass. — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is seeking a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ permit to place fill material within a total of 7.81 acres of wetlands and waterways for the construction of the Greenbush Old Colony Railroad Commuter Line through the towns of Braintree, Weymouth, Hingham, Cohasset and Scituate, reports the Weymouth News.
Construction will include installing about 18 miles of rail line and seven new commuter rail stations and an end of the line layover facility. Total permanent and temporary wetlands and waterway impacts within Corps jurisdiction of the proposed work include 3.41 acres of permanent impact to wetland, 4.02 acres of temporary impacts to wetlands, 0.082 acres of permanent impact to waterways, and 0.30 acres of temporary impacts to waterways.
In April 1997, the MBTA first submitted a permit application for this proposed work and public notice was issued on May 6, 1997. The MBTA subsequently has modified the project and submitted a revised permit application that is the subject of this currently public notice.
The project purpose for the restoration of the Greenbush Line of the Old Colony Railroad is:
–To meet the Greenbush Line corridor’s needs for transit services
–To reverse the growing isolation of the Greenbush Line corridor
–To increase mobility by increasing transit capacity, ridership, accessibility, reliability and comfort
–To reduce transit travel time and traffic congestion
–To alleviate the burden on existing roadway and transit facilities and services, such as parking facilities, the Red Line system, Route 3, and the Southeast Expressway
–To reduce fuel consumption and air pollution
–To provide cost effective transit services by maximizing the use and capacity of existing facilities and maximizing the natural advantages of each mode of transportation within a multi-modal approach to transportation improvements
–To help the regional Intermodal Transportation System (ITS) program achieve improvements in air quality, including specific commitments to provide rail service in the Greenbush Corridor, and
–To ameliorate inequities in the existing Boston metropolitan area transportation system by increasing services in the now poorly-served Greenbush Line corridor and by increasing access for disabled individuals or individuals with special needs.
The MBTA has developed a Wetland Mitigation Plan to replace lost wetlands functions and values of areas impacted by the project.
This project will impact Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) for smelt, herring and alewife. This habitat consists of tidally-influenced streams, including Town Brook in Hingham and Smelt Brook in Weymouth. Loss of this habitat may adversely affect spawning and anadromous fish runs for smelt, herring and alewife during construction; however, time-of-year-restrictions have been proposed to minimize impacts.
With the inclusion of the time-of-year-restrictions, the District Engineer has made a preliminary determination that the site-specified adverse effect will not be substantial. Further consultation with the National Marine Fisheries Service regarding Essential Fish Habitat conservation recommendations is being conducted and will be concluded prior to the final permit decision.
The application for the federal permit was filed with the Corps of Engineers under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, which regulates the discharge of dredged or fill material in U.S. waters, and Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899, which provides for federal regulation of any work in, or affecting, navigable waters of the United States.
To assist in properly evaluating the proposal, the Corps is seeking public comments. Written statements referencing the permit (File #1997 – 00680) should be forwarded to this office no later than Jan. 12. Additional information is available from Ted Lento at < Theodore.m.lento@usace.army.mil > or writing to him at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District, Regulatory Division, 696 Virginia Road, Concord 01742-2751.