Published in the April 13, 2021 edition.
By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD — Town Engineer Bill Renault expressed cautious hope that the Broadway commuter rail crossing could be re-opened soon, while at the same time acknowledging that previous optimism has not produced the desired speedy result.
He reminded the Town Council last night that he has been working with the Federal Railroad Administration for more than four months in an effort to reopen the crossing and keep the town’s “quiet zone.”
A quiet zone is a kind of tradeoff where sufficient safety measures must be in place so that it is not necessary for trains to sound their horns as a warning when approaching road crossings.
The Broadway crossing was initially closed last fall while National Grid installed some infrastructure for its underground transmission line. The town also took the opportunity to upgrade some of its own infrastructure under the tracks. When the FRA inspectors came to OK the crossing’s re-opening, they determined that the town needed to do more at its railroad crossings in order to retain its status as a quiet zone. Until then, the only way the town could retain its quiet zone status was to keep the Broadway crossing closed.
Renault said that the town submitted its proposal for keeping the townwide quiet zone to the FRA in December and he recently heard that the matter is in the final stages of review. After the review is complete, and the FRA Minister of Safety signs off, Renault said, the town can begin the process of re-opening the crossing.
He hoped that the FRA would issue a positive decision in the next week or so and said that once the town gets the go-ahead, the process of re-opening the crossing will take about three days.
He took the fact that the FRA has not come back to the town with a lot of questions as it reviews the town’s submittal as a positive sign.
Town Councilor Mehreen Butt wanted to know how the town was keeping residents and affected businesses informed of the status of the Broadway crossing.
Renault said that his office has been fielding calls and answering questions as they come in. He said that it was difficult to know what to communicate out because there hasn’t been much to report.
Town Administrator Stephen P. Maio said that his office has been in regular contact with the businesses and residents.
“As soon as we know, they will know,” he said.
Town Councilor Edward Dombroski wondered if the town had any recourse with National Grid, whose work at the crossing seemed to have led to the closing.
He suggested that National Grid’s project prompted the FRA review that led to the prolonged closing and that the power company should have anticipated that. A coordinated response might have lessened the impact he said.
But Renault maintained that the National Grid work was more coincidental than anything, noting that FRA inspectors were already in this region. They would have gotten to Wakefield sooner rather than later and discovered the compliance problems, he said. Wakefield was only able to maintain its townwide quiet zone only by shutting down the Broadway Crossing when it did. Town officials hope the FRA review currently underway will allow the town to re-open the crossing and keep its quiet zone.
Town Councilor Jonathan Chines suggested that some of the federal stimulus money that the town receives as a result of COVID should be used to bring all of the town’s rail crossings up to safety standards where the quiet zones won’t be an issue in the foreseeable future.
