By Kyle Clauss, kclauss@lowellsun.com
Updated: 02/04/2015 07:39:45 AM LowellSun.com
NASHUA -- Extending commuter-rail
service from Lowell to Nashua, Manchester and Concord, N.H., would drive economic
development, attract new employers and create thousands of new jobs in coming
decades, a new two-year study concludes.
"We know that families that have
chosen to live and work in New Hampshire for our high quality of life still
want easy access to Boston without the hassle and cost of driving and
parking," Gov. Maggie Hassan said at a press conference Tuesday at Nashua
Technology Park. "They want to hike New Hampshire in the morning, then
they want to go down to a Sox game or a concert in the evening.
The New Hampshire Capitol Corridor Rail
and Transit study, released by the New Hampshire Rail Transit Authority, places
the cost of expanding service from Lowell to Manchester at an estimated $245.6
million. Infrastructure commitments from the MBTA and as much as 50 percent in
federal support would reduce New Hampshire's total investment to $72 million.
Roughly 230 jobs would be created for
the construction of rail, plus 3,390 jobs for the real-estate development
generated by rail, according the study. Starting in 2030, the expansion would
generate 1,730 new jobs each year.
About 668,000 yearly weekday riders would
pay a yet-to-be-determined "reasonable" fare, New Hampshire New
Hampshire Rail Transit Authority Chairman Michael Izbicki said.
The study, conducted by URS Corp.,
names seven potential station areas in New Hampshire, including the Pheasant
Lane Mall, Spit Brook Road and Crown Street in Nashua, and Manchester-Boston
Regional Airport in Manchester.
The MBTA would select potential station
areas from Lowell's Gallagher Terminal to the state line, but would be charged
with maintaining the entire length of the rail.
MBTA Director of Communications Joe
Pesaturo could not be reached for comment.
Izbicki said there is an agreement in
place between the MBTA and Pan-Am to operate trains on Pan-Am's freight rail
through Concord, which would allow for intercity travel between Concord and
Boston.
Nashua Mayor Donnalee Lozeau said she's
unable to walk through Technology Park without employees asking her when rail
will arrive. She cited one former Nashua business that was tired of waiting and
left altogether.
"We shouldn't see businesses leave
because we couldn't give them the mobility they need," Lozeau said.
The expanded rail service would help
New Hampshire reverse its brain drain, curbing what Izbicki called an
"alarming rate of young people fleeing our state" and tapping into
Boston's talent pool.
The project hopes to channel momentum
from the Boston 2024 Olympic bid, though Izbicki and Greater Nashua Chamber of
Commerce president and CEO Chris Williams indicated a scuttled bid wouldn't
sink the expansion.
"We look at this project as part
of that regional transportation system that (the bid) would need as part of the
2024 application process," Izbicki said.
Passenger rail service between Boston
and Concord was discontinued in 1967.
The New Hampshire Rail Transit
Authority will start work on a financial plan, final engineering and
applications to the Federal Transit Administration and Federal Rail
Administration. Work on the project "could conceivably kick off within the
next year," providing the authority obtains the $4 million needed to
conduct the project development phase.
State Rep. Tom Golden, a
Democrat from Lowell, said he supports the
expansion in general, but is concerned about the cost to Massachusetts and the
already cash-strapped MBTA.
"Overall I think it's a great idea
that we increase public transportation, but where the rubber starts to meet the
road is the cost," Golden said Tuesday.
"The MBTA right now needs to control the costs it has now before it really
starts to expand. Although I do agree with the concept of expanding public
transportation, we have to understand exactly what it's going to cost the
commonwealth of Massachusetts."
Staff
writer Chelsea Feinstein contributed to this report.
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