(The following article by Amy Lambiaso was distributed be State House News Service on July 14.)
BOSTON — Supporters of a proposal to connect North and South Station by an underground rail line called on the governor Monday to act on his campaign promise of linking transportation and land use, and to begin plans to construct the $8 billion rail track.
Without support from the administration, which is reviewing the project’s economic feasibility, the project remains at a standstill and an item of continuing debate and disagreement between state transportation officials and the environmentalists promoting the one-mile station connector.
But the $14.6 billion Big Dig, with all of its delays and cost overruns, is clearly the subtext for the proposal. For all of its benefits and grandeur, the project is also known nationwide for its seemingly out-of-control cost increases.
“In this day and age, the federal government doesn’t look too favorably at constructing multi-billion tunnels under the city of Boston,” said Jon Carlisle, spokesman for the state Executive Office of Transportation and Construction. “This is simply not a project Massachusetts can fund alone. ”
Carlisle estimated the project’s cost at $8 billion.
The rail link is proposed to run underground between Boston s two commuter rail hubs, to decrease traffic on the roadways, improve air quality, and reduce the number of trains entering and leaving North and South stations.
The impact that this would have cannot be understated, said Dan Lauzon, legislative representative for the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers.
Supporters estimate that the rail link would reduce traffic by 55,000 cars per day and eliminate 583 tons of carbon dioxide emitted by cars. An increase of 87,000 riders per day would take advantage of the new line, some suggest, and help to ease transportation in the most congested part of the city.
With traffic a persistent complaint among drivers and voters, the project is not an easy one to casually dismiss.
Derry, N.H. resident Paula Walach, toting her work gear fresh from riding the commuter train from Salem, boarded her bicycle outside North Station and proclaimed her support for the rail link. The Gillette Co. employee in South Boston chooses to ride her bicycle each day to work, rather than driving, walking, or train-hopping like the millions of other commuters do daily to travel between the two areas.
“This is no joke,” said Walach before strapping on her $6.20 facemask. “We need this rail link, desperately. ”
Walach made her views known by interrupting a press conference called by rail link supporters.
The Sierra Club, a grassroots environmental organization, launched a $4,000 advertising campaign Monday to run on North commuter rail cars. The ads, reading “Why doesn’t this train go to South Station? ” are aimed at garnering more public support for the rail link and recognizing the growing problem with train capacity at both North and South stations, supporters say.
Sierra Club Organizer Jeremy Marin said the project is currently stalled and awaiting a final Environmental Impact Study to be released by the Romney administration. But Carlisle said the information needed in the report was included in the Environmental Impact Report currently posted for a 30-day comment period. The report is posted on the Environmental Monitor, a state-run publication of studies and reports, found at
www.state.ma.us/envir/mepa/secondlevelpages/currentissue.htm.
Comments are due by July 24. The final study is the last leg in a series of three reports and investigations by the state under orders from the Federal Transit Administration, Marin said. About $4.5 million was spent in federal dollars to complete the studies.
Former Gov. Michael Dukakis, standing with supporters of the link during a press conference Monday, urged the administration to act quickly on the project and take advantage of its enormous potential.
“As we think about the next generation of transportation projects for the Commonwealth . . . we need to get our policy makers to start seriously thinking about this project, ” Dukakis said.
Carlisle said the project was a good idea, but just not feasible given the economic climate.
“From a transportation standpoint, that might be regrettable,” he said. “But on the other hand we could run the risk of cannibalizing other projects that could have just as important an impact on the people of the Commonwealth. ”
Carlisle said the project will remain dead unless an alternative source of funding surfaces, an unlikely occurrence. To pursue it further would be “irresponsible of the state,” he said.
Supporters are unwilling to accept that, and claim the $8 billion estimate does not accurately reflect the actual cost.
“If Governor Romney is serious about helping alleviate traffic in Massachusetts, if Governor Romney is serious about improving air quality,” Marin said, “then he needs to get serious about constructing the North South Rail Link. “