The Case Against The Knowledge Corridor Rail System
Blake Lamothe, chair of the Palmer Redevelopment Authority, argues against the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission's train plans for the Connecticut River Valley.
Comments (10)Thursday, June 04, 2009
Photo By Mark RoesslerIn response to the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission's (PVPC) "Knowledge Corridor" study, which advocates re-routing Amtrak's Vermonter rail service via the Massachusetts towns along the Connecticut River to increase its speed and number of passengers, Blake Lamothe, the chair of the Palmer Redevelopment Authority, has been promoting his "Population Corridor" plan for rail service.
His plan, Lamothe says, is to capitalize on improving and expanding an existing rail infrastructure, whereas the PVPC plan is "hypothetical" and, Lamothe says, "will become a failure for the state." The PVPC plan attempts to improve only north-south transit, but the Palmer plan tries to improve it in all directions. Not counting Springfield (which figures in both plans), the PVPC plan serves tens of thousands of people who live in the towns along the river; the "Population Corridor" plan was given its name because, says Lamothe, it would serve several times that many who live between Boston and Springfield, Amherst and New London, Conn.
Opening Palmer to passengers, Lamothe estimates, will cost about a million dollars and could be completed in months, as opposed to the $30 million, multi-year PVPC plan. While he is not against an eventual rail route that takes passengers through Holyoke, Northampton and Greenfield, Lamothe points out that most successful passenger services began after freight service had already been successfully established. The all-but-abandoned line along the Connecticut River is vulnerable to flooding, and nearly every bridge and the approximately 54 rail crossing would need to be updated or replaced. Lamothe says he thinks the cost would be closer to $100 million.
Further, the towns along the river are already served by the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority bus system (Greenfield will soon be building a $12.8 bus transit hub), which does not exist in the places Lamothe's plan seeks to serve. PVPC plans to incorporate the busses into the train system, but Lamothe says they will be two publicly funded transit systems in competition with one another.
Finally, Lamothe points out that the PVPC's "Knowledge Corridor" plan began as a response to the state of Vermont's desire to speed up transit through Massachusetts and attract more passengers. (Vermont currently pays for Amtrak's Vermonter run from St. Albans to Washington, D.C.) While this might be an understandable goal for Vermont, Lamothe asks, "Why would [Massachusetts] support such a huge in-state investment to save out-of-state travelers [time] passing through our state?"
Why such invective? Where do you live? Are you & if you are, what is your involvement in this planning process? Curious because your comments are so strongly worded. Thank you.
I am not against establishing additional east west rail service, in fact I think it would be a great addition (and consolation prize to Palmer) to the knowledge corridor changes. I would so love to simply take the train all the way to Boston and bypass the driving nightmare that is the Pike.
As far as the reason for the invective, I find no crime worse than those who seek to subvert the good natured improvement plans of an entire region, simply for what appears to the benefit of a single town and even more- it's clear LaMothe has his own business (which by the way I've been to several times and loved it!) interests in play as well, which hardly makes him impartial and lends to the stink of potential conflict of interest cronyism, I am all for allowing him to make his point in the media, but it does seem a bit ironic that the person who would benefit the most, is the one screaming to derail (sorry, couldn't avoid the pun) the proposed redesign project.
Lamothe has been "screaming" for a rail stop in Palmer for a lot longer than the Knowledge Corridor plan has been in existence. He's not been promoting it simply for Palmer, but for the many towns around his which have no bus service or rail access.
For a train line to be successful, it needs private industry and entrepreneurs to invest and make money on it. Without those things, the rail line fails. That's a big part of why Northampton doesn't have rail now. Lamothe has invested far more time, money and energy into improving passenger rail in Western Mass than anyone at the PVPC or most people reading this. I don't see anything criminal about that.
If passenger rail is going to be successful in Western Massachusetts, I think we need to be thinking regionally, long-term, and with an eye on what's worked in the past, making use of existing infrastructure whenever possible, and giving priority to areas in the best condition.
However, the LSL needs some serious improvements, too. Possibly improving the track from Palmer to Springfield (re-double tracking for starts) could go a long way and be in both Palmer and the PVPC's interests.
I know that Blake and his wife Robin struggled for almost 20 years to create what they now have and should not be criticized simply because some perceive they'll get someting out of this which they are rightly entitled to as business people just because they're in the right place to do so. As Mark Roessler pointed out this is far finer than the vending machines at Springfield.
The PVPC's proposal is a good one simply from a logistics aspect. But we can't overlook the 30,000 plus UMass and Amherst College students almost within walking distance of their station and who live in areas all across the state including the metro-Boston area. Here's where our legislators should be working at consolidating all of the possibilities to even extend the MBTA from Worcester to Springfield to serve the greatest needs for two highly important transportation corridors.
That missing commuter link between Springfield and Worcester to include Palmer and several other towns has been recognized and while the PVPC plan may move forward, the missing link might possibly not be very far behind.
Just a casual glance at the UMass campus, with its
parking lots' tens-of-thousands of cars, shows there is a problem here: if there were an easier way to get to and from the Amherst-Noho to the Boston metro area many of those cars would not be needed any more, and that way is most likely going to involve regular trains between Springfield, Worcester and Boston, with a stop in Palmer and rail shuttle
to and from Amherst.
Similarly, for folks who commute south from this area, and there are many thousands per day who do so, adding rail service on the line through Northampton, Greenfield and Holyoke makes sense. (The occasional Vermont-bound camper would also be served, but to build a rail line for that alone is probably not what the PVPC has in mind ;-)
At any rate, folks should keep in mind how fragile the coalition is to get ANY kind of investment in improved rail service out here will be (most Massachusetts money for transportation stays in the Boston-MBTA service area, and we are very lucky to have the help of Vermont and Connecticut for north-south service) so let work together to make sure it's not a question of "either-or" but rather how to get BOTH east-west and north-south service improved.
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This man should hang his head in shame, he knows full well the damage he is doing by trying to hijack a project that would benefit the entire region for just his town's benefit.
I have seen the monster that needs defeating, and it is Blake Lamothe, today's honourary recipient of the too greedy and selfish to be allowed further public office award.
We will not allow parochial concerns to upset a well crafted, logical, redesign of a system that despite his perspective, is not designed to serve Palmer alone. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of Palmer.