Worcester Group opposes CSX project - From the Worcester Telegram

Group opposes CSX project. In Grafton Hill, truck threat seen By Nick Kotsopoulos TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF nkotsopoulos@telegram.com

WORCESTER — The Grafton Hill Business Association, which represents more than 60 individuals and companies, has come out against CSX Corp.’s plans to expand its freight yard on Franklin Street.

In a statement issued through its president, George Kerxhalli, the group said it has “strong reservations” about the $100 million expansion plan, believing it will have “dire consequences” for lower Grafton Hill.

The association contends that Grafton Street between Posner Square and Billings Square will be especially devastated by the “traffic, noise and pollution that would accompany such a project.”

Mr. Kerxhalli said the officers and directors of the association decided at a special meeting Thursday night to issue a formal declaration of opposition to the CSX project as it is currently constituted.

“Based on the details of the proposal as set forth by CSX and state and city officials so far, the project will have dire consequences for business people, residents and schoolchildren on Grafton Hill,” Mr. Kerxhalli said.

He added that the association intends to elaborate on its objections in public meetings on the project.

CSX wants to double the size of its freight yard on Franklin Street from 23 acres to 51 acres and make Worcester its new rail freight hub for New England. The freight yard is just east of Interstate 290.

The $100 million project is part of a private-public partnership between the state and CSX to reposition its freight operations in Massachusetts so the rail line between Worcester and Boston can be opened to more commuter trains, with a goal of adding 20 more commuter trains by 2012.

There are currently 12 round trips per day. The Worcester-Framingham line carries more than 9,000 passengers into Boston each weekday.

A key part of the CSX plans is the relocation of the access to its freight yard from Franklin Street to Grafton Street, at the site of the vacant Shaw’s Supermarket. That is intended to provide easier access to I-290 and reduce the amount of truck traffic on city streets.

But business owners on that part of Grafton Street are not thrilled with the prospect of all that truck traffic diverted there.

Ron Gestone, owner of Frank’s Flower Shop, 165 Grafton St., said he hopes the city will stand by those residents and property owners who he said will be “totally impacted” by the CSX plan.

His business, which has been at that Grafton Street site for more than 40 years, is just before the I-290 eastbound on-ramp

“My property will no longer be of use for me because I will have more than 500 trucks on a daily basis going by my place of business,” Mr. Gestone said. “With all those trucks, no one will be able to get in or out of my driveway.”

Meanwhile, the City Council has asked City Manager Michael V. O’Brien to discuss with CSX and the state Department of Transportation an alternative to the Grafton Street access to the freight yard. That plan would relocate the current driveway into the site across from Penn Avenue to a point where the new access driveway would be aligned with the traffic signal at the I-290 eastbound ramp, according to District 3 Councilor Paul P. Clancy Jr.

He said that would allow for the removal of as much truck traffic from the freight yard as possible from Grafton Street. The proposal was broached by Mr. Clancy, Councilor-at-Large Joseph M. Petty and District 2 Councilor Philip P. Palmieri.

Mr. Palmieri has also pointed out that while the Grafton Street entrance/exit to the CSX freight yard would provide direct access to I-290, it would only be in the eastbound direction. He said trucks that need to go west on I-290 would still have to travel through Washington Square.

For that reason, Grafton Hill residents have asked that trucks leaving the CSX freight yard be required to turn right only onto Grafton Street, thus prohibiting them from using Grafton Street to gain access to the westbound entrances to the Massachusetts Turnpike or Route 20.