www.mass.gov/southcoastrail
In summer 2014, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation
Authority (MBTA) advanced the South Coast Rail project from conceptual planning to design and permitting.
The MassDOT Board of Directors had just approved a 120-month Program Management/Construction
Management (PM/CM) contract with the Joint Venture of VHB/HNTB for $210 million. The MBTA included first-year funding of $12 million to advance key elements of the data collection and preliminary design to support the environmental permitting process.
The second contract year began in September 2015 with another $12 million to start advancing South
Coast Rail to 30% design. The 30% design milestone will provide clear direction on engineering and move the project one step closer to construction. This fall, the MBTA engaged Parsons Brinckerhoff as the project’s Owner’s Representative (OR). In this role, the
OR will perform project reviews and prepare reports annually for the Secretary of Transportation, State
Auditor and legislature. Additional OR services include value engineering, constructability reviews, analysis of scheduled and construction cost estimates, and advising on procurement for construction packages. review them with the MBTA for compliance with safety, policy and operations.
The scope for the second year of design focuses on achieving 30% design of the elements of the project from Taunton south to Fall River and New Bedford. This includes designing track, drainage, stations and layover facilities. The team will also continue the environmental permitting process.
The station designs are advancing as well. They will include a focus on the context of the neighborhood and communities and promote the identity of the MBTA commuter rail system. The architects are working with the MBTA’s standards for accessibility, emergency exits, sustainability opportunities and dozens of other elements that have to be incorporated into station design from the outset. Parking lots will be constructed at several stations; bicycle storage will be included; and pick-up and drop-off spaces will be provided.
There will be space dedicated to bus stops and plans for pedestrian access. Project architects will consider the context of each station location and incorporate lighting, wayfinding signs and safe pedestrian access.
The design and permitting process for 75 miles of new track, ten new stations and two reconstructed stations is lengthy and complex. The work began with data collection needed to avoid and/or minimize environmental impacts, as well as understand the rightof-way, station areas and other conditions. During the first year, field teams mapped segments of the future track in detail and collected geotechnical data on soil conditions. The team developed design criteria and
15% design plans for project elements and continues to
A robust outreach and engagement effort is continuing in year two of South Coast Rail’s design and permitting.
Emails and fact sheets will provide updates on the engineering and permitting processes. The project website was relaunched last winter to include more extensive and updated project information. You can visit the website, sign up for meeting notices and stay in touch with the project at: www.mass.gov/southcoastrail
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Over the past year, the communities of Taunton,
Freetown, and New Bedford have seen abundant progress on the upgrades of five railroad grade crossings to prepare the corridor for commuter rail.
The MBTA’s Jorge Briones has been leading a team of engineers and designers through the design and construction phases of these early action projects.
With safety as the top priority, Jorge’s team will equip each grade crossing with innovative safety warning devices, signals and crossing gates, and replace approximately 17,000 linear feet of track.
Jorge wears many hats on the job – he coordinates construction with his MBTA Construction team, materials delivery and contracts, and he works closely with other MBTA departments. In September,
Taunton’s Mayor and Municipal Council wrote Jorge to thank him and employees of the MBTA for the fantastic work that was completed at the Dean Street crossing.
Jorge is also working on the Bridgewater Wind
Turbine Project and is a member of the I-90 Allston
Interchange – West Station Task Force. Prior to joining the MBTA, he managed construction of highend residential, office, and commercial buildings.
When he’s not on the construction site, you can find
Jorge on the golf course or fixing something around the house. A Detroit native, Jorge moved to the area to work on three commercial construction projects and now lives in Swampscott.
SOUTH COAST RAIL – DECEMBER 2015
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VHB wetland scientists re-establish wetland flags in preparation for filing Notices of Intent with the local municipalities.
The Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs’
Certificate on MassDOT’s Final Environmental
Impact Statement/Report (FEIS/FEIR) outlines the forms of mitigation proposed to avoid, minimize and mitigate project impacts.
The environmental work of the first and early second year of the project has involved re-confirming the extent of wetlands and other elements of the project through surveying and flagging. This information is being used for the design process to further define and minimize impacts to wetland resource areas.
The team also continues to coordinate planning with agencies involved in the permitting process.
With more data collected and designs advancing, the team will begin to draft Notice of Intent permit applications for local Conservation Commissions. www.mass.gov/southcoastrail

MassDOT began a number of early action construction projects to improve grade crossings and replace railroad bridges and track along the South Coast Rail right-of-way in 2014. The improvements will have immediate benefits for expanding freight service and they will start to build the infrastructure needed to bring passenger rail service to the South Coast.
South Coast Rail’s grade crossing construction project is well underway. Construction at five grade crossings – three in Freetown, one in Taunton and one in New Bedford – began in late 2014 and will wrap up in April 2016. Activities include:
• Installation of new rail track
• Installation of new grade crossing signals with automatic gates and flashers
• Construction of new grade crossing surface where the tracks cross the roadway
• Destressing the rail to protect it from buckling in hot weather
• Aligning the track horizontally and vertically
In Freetown, MassDOT is reconstructing three at-grade crossings along the Fall River Secondary.
The at-grade crossing at Dean Street in Taunton is also being upgraded, including traffic signal improvements as at the adjacent Dean Street/
Arlington Street signalized intersection.
MassDOT advanced substantial track repairs and upgrades to freight service on the Fall River
Secondary extension and run-around track, which will one day carry commuter trains. Contractors have installed roughly:
46,500
new cross ties
270
new switch timbers
34,000
tons of new stone ballast
40,000
new rail anchors
MassDOT’s contractor will next surface 370,000 feet of track to remove imperfections and high spots on the rails. MassDOT has also upgraded ten grade crossings in the Southern Triangle
(including portions of Lakeville, Freetown, Fall
River and New Bedford), in an effort to prepare the region for commuter rail service.
In New Bedford, the MBTA is upgrading the at-grade crossing at Nash Road and improving a nearby traffic signal at the Nash Road/Church Street intersection.
A siding (a low-speed track section separate from the main line) near Sid Wainer & Son was also reconstructed and began operating as of October
2015. The MBTA has finished installing approximately
6,500 feet of new track in New Bedford and 10,500 feet of new track in Freetown. These tracks are currently used by regional freight service operators.
The Dean Street grade crossing in Taunton, looking north, before (left) and after the upgrade (right). New gates and flashers will be installed in January 2016.
www.mass.gov/southcoastrail
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SOUTH COAST RAIL – DECEMBER 2015

MassDOT is replacing four bridges along the South
Coast Rail right-of-way: one in New Bedford and three in Fall River. This $42 million project will help prepare the right-of-way for future commuter rail, and will benefit current regional freight service.
Construction began in early 2015 and there has already been significant progress. Work on all four bridges is scheduled to wrap up by the end of 2016.
Wamsutta Bridge: New Bedford’s Wamsutta Bridge is a three-span railroad bridge over Route 18, Acushnet
Avenue and Wamsutta Avenue. The bridge’s low clearance over Route 18 has made it notorious as the site of multiple vehicular collisions, particularly involving trucks. The bridge is currently closed to trains and demolition is in progress. Route 18 remains open, with occasional lane closures, while Wamsutta Street and a portion of Acushnet Avenue are closed to make room for construction. The new bridge, which will provide increased vertical clearance over the roadways, is scheduled to open in late spring 2016.
The new wing wall and abutment for the
Golf Club Road Bridge in Fall River.
Golf Club Road Bridge: This bridge, near the Fall River
Country Club, has been out of service for some time due to its poor condition. Since construction began,
MassDOT has built walls and abutments and has completed site work. Currently, prefabricated bridge units (PBUs) for the superstructure, the portion of the bridge that supports the bridge deck, are being built in
Pittsfield, MA. After the PBUs are delivered and put into place, the roadway will be paved and construction will wrap up in summer 2016.
President Avenue and Brownell Street Bridges: These two railroad bridges cross over President Avenue (Route
6) and Brownell Street, respectively, in Fall River. Both bridges will be replaced to provide increased vertical clearance over the roadways below. Reconstruction of these two bridges is taking place concurrently. So far,
MassDOT has demolished the eastbound half of each bridge, which is not currently in use by the railroad.
SOUTH COAST RAIL – DECEMBER 2015
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A police officer directs traffic beneath the President Avenue Bridge in Fall River.
MassDOT’s contractor has constructed retaining walls on both sides of the railroad to account for the increase in elevation. MassDOT will erect the eastern half of each bridge in winter 2015/2016. In summer 2016, MassDOT will demolish the western half of each bridge and erect new girders to wrap up construction.
Related Work: The Sid Wainer & Son freight siding is a low-speed track section separate from the main line. The siding has also been reconstructed and has been fully operational since October 2015. The newly improved siding track and platform are being temporarily used by
Maritime International to transport fish shipments. The
Port of New Bedford is America’s #1 fishing port, so the new siding supports the products that travel by rail.
For more information, contact us at:
SouthCoastRail@dot.state.ma.us
(857) 368-8853
To learn more about the project and sign up for email updates, visit the website at: www.mass.gov/southcoastrail
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