www.southcoastrail.com
On April 30, Secretary of Transportation Bernard Cohen announced the short list of alternatives
for the South Coast Rail Project at a celebration in Dartmouth, one year after Governor Deval
Patrick released plans to restore passenger rail service to the South Coast. Secretary Cohen
announced that five corridor alternatives will advance to Phase 2 for in-depth state and federal
environmental review. This fact sheet summarizes the alternatives, presents the updated project
schedule and highlights the beginning of the environmental investigation.
Short List of Alternatives
Over the last year, the Executive Office of Transportation
and Public Work's project team (EOT) has worked with
state and federal regulators, elected and municipal
officials, the Commuter Rail Task Force and hundreds
of meeting participants to generate and evaluate
alternatives for providing the South Coast with new
transit. Since April 2007, when Governor Patrick
released South Coast Rail: A Plan for Action, EOT has:
• Completed the first phase of the
alternatives analysis,
• Embarked on a smart growth corridor plan, and
• Launched a robust civic engagement process to
gather input from residents and businesses on
how best to plan and design the project.
The wide-ranging civic engagement process generated a
list of 65 alternatives that were analyzed during Phase 1,
then narrowed the list to five transit alternatives includ­
ing a variety of transportation modes. The five alterna­
tives are entering Phase 2 for in-depth environmental
and operational review. Readers can review the
step-by-step analysis of the Phase 1 process on
www.southcoastrail.com.
Coming up with the short list of alternatives was a
balancing act. The screening process assessed the
alternatives using values and principles developed
through the agency and civic engagement process. Every
alternative has pros and cons, and the data gathered in
Phase 2 – beginning this summer – will help EOT, the
environmental agencies and the communities continue
to weigh alternatives against one another.
Secretary Cohen
announces short list
of alternatives at the
one year celebration
on the South Coast.
Battleship Cove
July 2008 | Page 1
These alternatives are advancing to Phase 2:
1. Through Attleboro: Electric or diesel commuter
rail to South Station via a new bypass in Attleboro
2. Through Middleborough: Commuter rail to
South Station via the Middleborough Line with
and without Old Colony Main Line
improvements
3. Through Attleboro and Middleborough: Electric
and diesel commuter rail to South Station with
half the trains running via Attleboro and half
through Middleborough
2
1
4
4. Through Stoughton: Electric or diesel commuter
rail to South Station via Stoughton
5
5. Bus Rapid Transit using highway system: Express
bus to South Station via Routes 140, 24 (using a
new “zipper lane”), 128 (using a new dedicated bus
lane) and the Southeast Expressway HOV Lane
3
There is also a “No Build” option, which helps
compare the alternatives against what would
happen if the project were never built.
While Phase 1 looked at the region from the
“10,000 foot” level, in Phase 2, work will take
place on the ground. Consultants are examining
the “practicability” of the five transit alternatives
based on railroad operations and gathering data on
the natural environment and impacts on
communities. Ridership projections are being
developed for each alternative. You can visit the
website to review draft documents, look for
upcoming meetings and read about project topics
as EOT takes a fresh look at South Coast Rail.
EOT and Army Corps Coordinate
Environmental Review
Two key agencies – one federal and one state –
have agreed to coordinate their reviews of the
environmental impacts of the South Coast Rail project.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the MA
Environmental Policy Act Office will evaluate the project
jointly. The Army Corps is the lead federal agency for the
project. It will coordinate the preparation of a federal
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), with the state
required Environmental Impact Report (EIR).
The first step in this process will be to prepare federal
and state documents outlining the project. The federal
Notice of Intent and state Environmental Notification
July 2008 | Page 2
Form will be filed this fall to solicit public comments on
the scope of the detailed environmental analyses. The Army
Corps will announce public meetings in the region to gather
comment on the planned scope of the reports. After the
scoping meetings, the Army Corps and Secretary of Energy
and Environmental Affairs will publish their requirements
for the content of the Draft EIS and EIR. Work on the
Draft EIS and EIR will take place this winter, with the draft
recommended alternative to be released in late spring 2009.
The final EIS/EIR are expected in spring 2010. There will be
many opportunities for public review and comment on the
draft and final recommendations.
South Coast Rail: Phase 2 Milestones
The Army Corps is leading the federal team of agencies
since EOT will be seeking a Corps permit under the
Clean Water Act. The Corps has been participating in the
Interagency Coordinating Group that EOT set up to ensure
effective and timely agency review of project data and
reports. EOT will also be seeking an environmental review
and permits from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
through the MEPA office and other state agencies.
This coordinated environmental review will bring the
environmental resource agencies together and help to
streamline the process.
Summer 2009
Wood frog
Spotlight on
Green
April 2008
Fall 2008
Spring 2009
January 2010
Spring 2010
EOT recommends short list of
alternatives
Federal and State Notifications
Published—Public Meetings on the
Scope of Environmental Process
Draft State and Federal
Environmental Impact
Report/Statement
Smart Growth Corridor Plan
Financing Plan
Final State and Federal
Environmental Impact
Report/Statement
2012
Construction begins
2016
Service opens!
Vernal Pools
Vernal pools are small ponds, usually in wooded areas, that become dry during the
summer. With no permanent water, these ponds can’t support fish or bullfrogs, so
they provide ideal breeding habitat for wood frogs and spotted salamanders. In
larger ponds, fish and bullfrogs would eat the wood frog tadpoles and young
salamanders. These vernal pool species have adapted to breed in seasonal ponds:
they lay eggs as soon as the ponds thaw in the spring and produce fast-growing
young who complete their development before the vernal pools dry up.
Vernal pools are registered with and certified by the Massachusetts Division of Fish & Game’s Natural Heritage and
Endangered Species Program. Once registered, they are given special protection under the Wetlands Protection Act
and Water Quality Certification process.
This spring, EOT’s consultants investigated potential vernal pools along critical segments of the South Coast Rail
routes, concentrating on areas where there are currently no tracks (the Attleboro Bypass and the Stoughton Route
through Easton and Raynham), and where existing tracks would have to be substantially widened (the Northeast
Corridor, north of Route 128). The team of biologists verified that several of these potential vernal pools contained
populations of wood frogs, spotted salamanders, and invertebrates that are characteristic of seasonal ponds. These
will be added to the list of the many certified vernal pools along the potential South Coast Rail routes.
July 2008 | Page 3
What’s Happening this Summer
South Coast Rail is not taking a summer vacation.
Intensive work will be underway on these elements of
the South Coast Rail:
Selecting Stations: The team has met with the South
Coast communities to discuss potential sites for
stations for commuter rail and bus operations. Like
the alternatives analysis, this process depends on a
set of principles and a screening process. The initial
criteria for sites include site quality, accessibility and
cost; environmental impact; and potential to support
smart growth development. EOT is also working
with the Commuter Rail Task Force on station siting.
The initial results of the screening are posted on
southcoastrail.com. EOT is accepting public comment
on the short list of station sites until July 31. See the
website for details.
Estimating Ridership: Ridership modeling has also
begun. The Central Transportation Planning Staff is
building and testing a model that will simulate the
modes and routes for trips in the region. The model
includes a wide variety of data, including population,
employment, number of households, auto ownership,
highway and transit levels of service, downtown parking
costs, auto operating costs and transit fares. The model
is a tool that EOT can use to estimate the number of
riders by alternative.
Nuts and Bolts: Project consultants will be using a
model known as RAILSIM to analyze how each of the
alternatives would operate. Inputting data on corridors,
rail segments, lengths and curves and potential station
stops, they will test if and how trains can run on the
proposed routes. At the same time, field work is
underway on the “affected environment”: locating
wetlands along the corridors; mapping natural areas,
farms and floodplains; searching for rare species —
and much more. The data will be available in the Draft
Environmental Impact Report and Environmental
Impact Statement.
Smart Growth Corridor Plan: Located in the fastest
growing region of Massachusetts, the South Coast
communities are vulnerable to uncontrolled growth.
EOT is working with the region’s communities to
preserve their quality of life while welcoming and
shaping development, choosing station sites and
developing zoning to implement community plans
and transit oriented development. EOT’s smart growth
team includes Good Clancy and the Southeastern
Regional Planning and Economic Development District
(SRPEDD). Team members have already met with
20 communities to identify land for development or
environmental preservation. This work continues over
the summer.
Contact Us
If you would like more information about the project or
to be added to the project distribution list for email and
U.S. Mail notifications of meetings and other updates,
please contact Kristina Egan, South Coast Rail Manager
at EOT, by email at Kristina.Egan@eot.state.ma.us or
phone at 617-973-7314. Project information and updates,
including a schedule of upcoming meetings, are posted
on the project website at www.southcoastrail.com.
This summer, EOT will run computer simulations for
each of the alternatives. The modeling will tell us how
many trains can be scheduled and how long the trips
will take. It is possible that results will show that one
or more alternatives are not workable. In that case,
EOT will not advance that alternative into the next
phase of environmental review.
The Executive Office of Transportation and Public Works
Ten Park Plaza, Room 4150
Boston, MA 02116
Kristina Egan, South Coast Rail Manager
July 2008 | Page 4