Outcry over Northeast Corridor line

[hack89]

Source: Providence Journal

CHARLESTOWN, R.I. - Saying they would block the trains to stop a proposed new Northeast Corridor rail route through Charlestown, speakers stood up in a packed Charlestown Elementary School cafeteria Tuesday night to voice their opposition.

Kim Coulter's farm is on Shumankanuc Hill Road, where a tunnel is planned. She told two Amtrak representatives that she understood they were sacrificial lambs, but, "I'm angry! I'm furious! Your money can't buy our farm. You can't buy our neighborhood. Why didn't I get a phone call that said 'Kim, we're taking your property?'"

The outcry was over a plan by the U.S. Department of Transportation to improve service in the Northeast Corridor that includes a new 50-mile bypass. The exact route of the bypass has not been determined, and the project could take years to begin. But residents here are concerned.

The Town Council read into the record a resolution saying in part that the rerouted tracks would destroy dozens of private homes, would decimate the historic mill villages of Burdickville, Columbia Heights and Kenyon, would cross land owned by the Narragansett Tribe, would fragment historic and active farmland as well as the Carter Preserve, would pass through or destroy open space that has been preserved in perpetuity and would require several crossings of the Pawcatuck River, which has been nominated by Congress as a Wild and Scenic River.

Read more: http://www.providencejournal.com/news/20170110/outcry-over-northeast-corridor-line-weve-been-railroaded

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This is why we will never see high speed rail in the North East - the folks that live between the major cities don't want to sacrifice their way of life for something that won't benefit them.

[wordpix]

1. "something that won't benefit them" ---wrong! I live in a rural area in the NE

and believe me, a functional rail system would help my life. Selling out farms, destroying open space and safe river crossings are another matter---and separate from the societal good of a functional rail system.

Currently, my closest train "station" is not a station, but a parking lot where cars including mine are regularly broken into if left overnight. I drive 40 min to the lot, take a spur line for 1-1/4 hr to the Amtrak station, wait another hour for the Amtrak train, take the 5 hr. trip to Union Station, DC, then backtrack on Metrorail going north into MD again, another 1/2 hr. Then I take a bus to where I stay near DC. All told, a 5 hr. trip by car takes 9 hr. by rail----if it's running on time and I don't have to wait too long between connections.

[oberliner]

2. They aren't building a station there

They are just rerouting the train itself - with no additional stops.

[bdamomma]

4. are calls being

to RI Representatives?

DAVID CICILLINE

My Offices
Washington, DC
2244 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

Pawtucket
1070 Main Street, Suite 300,
Pawtucket, RI 02860
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

JIM LANGEVIN

My Offices

Washington, DC Office
2077 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: [phone] | TTY: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

Rhode Island Office
300 Centerville Rd, Suite 200 South
Warwick, RI 02886
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

[brooklynite]

3. This particular NE corridor plan was a fantasy before it was announced...

...whether or not the community liked it, the funds were never going to be available.

[PotatoChip]

5. Same as it ever was.

People are always upset when they lose their property via eminent domain. I can't say that I blame them. I'd be upset too if it happened to me. I like my home, and have built strong ties here.

OTOH, unlike DAPL, this is one of those situations where the land seizure is fulfilling a regional public need, while also not adding to environmental degradation (AFAIK)

Too bad it's only a 50 mile bypass that they are doing, tho. The entire Mid-Atlantic/NE Corridor from DC to Boston is in desperate need of upgrades (among tons of other things). Noam Chomsky once said that for the passenger, that leg of their journey has not changed much since the early 60's. But I digress...

[elleng]

7. Thanks for this informative (and 'fertile' for discussion post.)

Please x-post in Economy.

Thanks