Opinion

MDOT Grand Trunk rail planning: Commuter rail best choice for NG

|In My Opinion – Carl Wilcox|

This Monday, December 5, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Greely Arts Center in Cumberland, next to the high school, MDOT will have a presentation and public comment period on the Grand Trunk Railroad that runs between India Street in Portland to the Danville Junction, in south Auburn. This is the eastern tracks in the Intervale that you also cross on Cobb’s Bridge Road next to the Royal River.

MDOT purchased the tracks and right of way circa 2006 for $6.8 million. Legislation passed last year requires MDOT to convene a committee of residents from communities along the rail corridor to review a number of engineering and economic studies done on this rail line over the last decade or more, receive public comment, and discuss and recommend to the State government whether the line should be converted to a trail, to a trail to rail, or to commuter rail when finances are available for the project. This committee has been meeting monthly since last spring. Their recommendation to State government is due in January. This decision will have far-reaching economic and societal implications for many decades or centuries into the future for New Gloucester and other inland communities.

In my opinion, while a walking and bike path would be fun and nice, use as a commuter rail would be much better for New Gloucester and the other inland communities. Commuter rail would increase property values, decrease traffic, provide better and more equitable access to jobs and opportunities, and help support New Gloucester’s long-term growth.

If the Grand Trunk line is converted to commuter rail, the engineering plans propose to have commuter rail stations at the Lewiston train station behind CMMC, Auburn Turnpike exit 75, Pineland either in West Pownal or at Penney and Intervale roads, Yarmouth center, probably also at the new Roux Institute where B&M Baked Beans was located, and at the current terminus at India and Commercial Streets (with rebuilding of the fire-vandalized bridge at Eastern Promenade). The Metro bus station now on Elm Street could be relocated above the rail line between Congress and Cumberland to carry rail commuters wherever in Greater Portland they desire to go. The MDOT master plan would also relocate the existing Portland Transportation Center to the Saint John and Park Streets area near Hadlock Field, to connect with the CSX line and serve passenger rail to and from Boston.

I’ve seen first-hand how having commuter rail boosted property values in the New Jersey town where my brother formerly lived, while neighboring towns missed out. For this corridor in Maine, it has been projected that a walking and bike path would increase home values near the path by $17,000. There are a number of homes along the Penney Road and its side roads that are assessed at less than $40,000. Having nearby commuter rail instead would increase property values by far more than $17,000 and would greatly reduce commuter traffic on Intervale Road. The quickest and shortest non-toll way between the southern Auburn area and downtown Portland is via Intervale Road.

Commuter rail also provides critical access to good-paying jobs. Following is a statement recently made by Michelle Wu, the current Boston Mayor:

“We know that the foundation for equitable access to opportunities, is connectedness, the ability to get around. A 2015 longitudinal study of several hundred people that Harvard conducted showed that the factor most closely linked to a family’s ability to rise out of poverty, in fact, wasn’t the test scores of schools in the area, it wasn’t the public-safety statistics. In fact, it was the average commute time to work. So, there’s a relationship between transportation, and particularly transportation-infrastructure decisions, and which communities have access to economic opportunity.”

Did you know that, according to Redfin, the current median home values of the communities along the line are as follows?

— Portland: $570,000
— Downtown Portland: $1,050,000
— Falmouth: $700,000
— Cumberland: $530,000
— Yarmouth: $630,000
— North Yarmouth: $495,000
— New Gloucester: $390,000
— Auburn: $250,000
— Downtown Auburn: $200,000
— Downtown Lewiston: $260,000

Extending commuter rail to Auburn and Lewiston would create economic opportunity for those communities. It would also benefit New Gloucester directly. Our town has grown dramatically in recent decades. From riding the school bus for many hours a week starting in the late 1960s, my memory of which homes existed in 1968 and which are new since then is quite good. Circa 1968, there were about 85 homes in the area bounded by but excluding Cobbs Bridge, Gloucester Hill Roads, and Route 100, including Morse, Town Farm, and Penney Roads, and all of Intervale Road to Pineland.

Now there are 605 homes in that same area, based on Google Earth 2021 imagery linked with the Town tax files. That is a 610% increase in homes in 50 years. The Penney Road and Morse Road areas have increased housing by 1,200% to 3,200%, respectively. New Gloucester needs to realize what it has become, a bedroom community to greater Portland, and provide the transportation systems to support that growth and the future growth that will come. Change is inevitable; what can be done is to manage change.

Over the past four months I have attended four of these Grand Trunk committee meetings and have spoken at the last two. My perception of this effort is that it was initiated in the Legislature by and for the wealthy in the coastal towns from Freeport through Falmouth that commute by car toll-free down I-295 and would like a community foot and bike path in their neighborhoods and to access Portland.

If possible, make the effort to attend Monday night’s meeting to learn and speak. It has the potential to greatly impact your property values and the quality of your life and that of many others as well.

— Carl Wilcox

DISCLAIMER: The views expressed in this opinion piece are solely those of the author. Publication does not reflect endorsement by the NGXchange or its volunteers. NGX welcomes diverse viewpoints and invites your submissions. Learn more here.