Littleton MBTA Commuter Rail Advisory Committee
The Board of Selectmen has tasked the Littleton MBTA Commuter Rail Advisory Committee with revisiting the location of the Littleton commuter rail station which maximizes local and regional benefits while minimizing adverse impacts on the town, and addresses also economic impact, access, and parking issues, and to make its report to the Board of Selectmen. The Board of Selectmen has appointed eight local residents to the Littleton MBTA Advisory Committee-- William Cole, Steve Sussman, Lori Grant, Russell Mullen, Ruth Liebowitz, Dave Derrig, Keith Carroll, and Donald MacIvar.
The Fitchburg Line Working Group has been told that federal stimulus funds are being applied to the Fitchburg Line project to add dual-tracking from South Acton to Ayer, with handicapped accessibility upgrades to the Littleton commuter rail station. The Town Administrator is to be the committee's intermediary with the MBTA, and we can have them come to Littleton to make a public presentation about their plans.
Commuter Rail Station Parking Spaces - On February 22, 2010, the Board of Selectmen unanimously voted to support the effort to obtain $2-million in federal and/or state funding for acquisition and development by MBTA of the 8.5-acre Nordblom parking lot for integration in the design of the Littleton commuter rail station, and to request the support of our state and federal legislative delegations. Improvements to the Fitchburg commuter rail line are a vital transportation strategy for meeting the economic development needs of this region. It would especially help the reverse commute needed for the I-495/Rt. 2 IT corridor’s employers, including IBM. For dual tracking of the Fitchburg line, Littleton’s commuter rail station must be rebuilt/relocated, and this involves the loss of some existing parking spaces on MBTA property. MBTA is at the very preliminary stage of design Littleton’s new commuter rail station. If the 8.5-acre Nordblom property could be incorporated for parking, it would be an infinitely better station design providing more-- rather than less-- parking. The Nordblom property has 100 parking spaces, with Planning Board approval to build 100 more. Those 8.5 acres are now being offered by Littleton Development Trust to the MBTA for $1,500,000. MBTA estimates another $500,000 for development of the parking spaces, for a total of $2-million-- but MBTA has no funding for this component.
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