The North South rail line through town has been getting upgraded for several months, and a resident queried Senator Feeney about what was being done. Today Senator Feeney informed the resident what he heard back from the railroad as follows:
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Below is the update we received from Mass Coastal as of yesterday. Unfortunately they are not mandated by statute or regulation to notify abutters regarding rail work. We have urged them to do so previously and will continue to ask for updates if the work is going to be prolonged. This is part of a larger project to replace older rail with “Continuous welded rail”. I hope this update helps to understand the scope of their work. In the meantime, we as a delegation have communicated about this issue, agree with you wholeheartedly, and will shake the trees with MassDOT and advocate for communication to the neighborhood by Mass Coastal.
Best,-Paul
Update from Mass Coastal:
“As information, Mass Coastal is overseeing a MBTA & MASS-DOT Rail Unit Project that is upgrading the rail along the Framingham Secondary between Framingham and Mansfield. We are changing the over 100 year old sectional-jointed rail to Continuous Welded Rail (CWR). Along with that change, the project involves spreading ballast stone and “surfacing” the rail to provide smooth alignment.
As you are likely aware, this rail line is very active transporting freight. Consequently the operational windows that we have afforded the contractor results in erratic hours. We take every step to avoid disruption, but one of the problems with CWR is that laying it in extreme heat conditions is not conducive to the requirements. Therefore early starts and working late are necessary.
There are a couple of weeks left before we are finished.
I am copying the folks at the MBTA and DOT that are my direct report.“
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