SELECTMEN NEWS: Town Comes Up With Fix For North Wilmington Commuter Rail Station

WILMINGTON, MA — At last week’s Board of Selectmen Meeting, Town Manager Jeff Hull summarized a recent conference call with officials from the town, state and MBTA concerning the North Wilmington Commuter Rail station, where trains stop and block the roadway, temporarily stopping emergency vehicles when responding to calls.

“The conference call took place on June 11 with Selectman Kevin Caira, Acting Police Chief Joe Desmond, Fire Chief Joe McMahon, myself, our legislative delegation and representatives from MBTA,” began Hull. “It’s pretty clear that the long-term permanent fix is going to be more expensive and take far greater time than we feel is appropriate.”

“The focus is now on a temporary platform – one that could 5-10 years or longer – located northerly of the current location,” continued Hull. “Based on past projects, the design cost is something in the order of $60,000-$100,000; and the actual construction would cost $500,000. Folks at MBTA will take a more detailed look and come back with estimates on design costs and construction costs.”

“There’s [approximately] 27-28 stations in a similar state that are competing with similar resources,” concluded Hull. “That’s the other issue — how do we make the case about our particular rail station relative to these others. Hopefully, through the assistance of our state legislators, we’ll get state funds to create this temporary platform.”

“This seems to be the best resolution at this point and time,” added Selectman Kevin Caira.  With the new platform, Caira noted that outbound trains will stop beyond the roadway, allowing the crossing gates to come up so the traffic can flow. The inbound trains won’t stop across the roadway, but the crossing gates would still need to come down. Emergency vehicles, however, would be able to fit through the gates.

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