Massachusetts-2009-H3227-Introduced

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Mary E. Grant

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the passage of the accompanying bill:

An Act to preserve the right of way for the North South Rail Link.

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PETITION OF:

Name:	District/Address:
Mary E. Grant	6th Essex
Michael S. Dukakis	85 Perry Street Brookline, MA 02446
William N. Brownsberger	24th Middlesex
Sarah K. Peake	4th Barnstable
Matthew C. Patrick	3rd Barnstable
Peter v. Kocot	1st Hampshire
Frank I. Smizik	15th Norfolk
Denise Provost	27th Middlesex
Barbara A. L'Italien	18th Essex
Michael F. Rush	10th Suffolk
Steven J. D'Amico	4th Bristol
Christine E. Canavan	10th Plymouth
John D. Keenan	7th Essex
Alice K. Wolf	25th Middlesex
Cleon H. Turner	1st Barnstable
Martha M. Walz	8th Suffolk
James RePass	National Corridors Initiative, President 59 Gate Street South Boston, MA 02127
Bruce E. Tarr	First Essex and Middlesex
William Lantigua	16th Essex
Patricia D. Jehlen	Second Middlesex
James B. Eldridge	Middlesex and Worcester
Antonio F.D. Cabral	13th Bristol
Carl M. Sciortino, Jr.	34th Middlesex
John W. Scibak	2nd Hampshire
Wayne Davis	Trainriders Northeast, President P.O. Box 4869,Downtown Station Portland, ME 04112
Jay McCaffrey	Sierra Club, Director 10 Milk St., Suite 632 Boston, MA 02108
Daniel Lauzon	Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers 7 Highland Street Rockport, MA 01966
George J. Newman	Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers 257 Hersey Street Hingham, MA
George T. Casey	United Transportation Union P.O. Box 404 Framingham, MA 01704
Timothy J. Toomey, Jr.	26th Middlesex
Brad Belllows	Architect 87 Howard Street Cambridge, MA02139
John Businger	National Corridors Initiative, Vice President 33 St. Paul Street Brookline, MA 02446
Elizabeth A. Malia	11th Suffolk
Kate Hogan	3rd Middlesex
Richard J. Arena	President, Association for Public Transportation, Inc. P.O. Box 51029 Boston, MA 02205
Steven A. Tolman	Second Suffolk and Middlesex
Byron Rushing	9th Suffolk
Cheryl A. Coakley-Rivera	10th Hampden
Thomas P. Kennedy	Second Plymouth and Bristol
Lori Ehrlich	8th Essex

[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE HOUSE, NO. 3496 OF 2007-2008.]

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the Year Two Thousand and Nine

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An Act to preserve the right of way for the North South Rail Link.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Section 1 of chapter 161C of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2004 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding after the last sentence the following sentence:–

Furthermore, to carry out the purposes of this section, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts shall preserve intact the right of way for the proposed North South Rail Link. This right of way is extremely vulnerable to the impact of development and redevelopment around the existing rail tracks and terminals. In addition, rail projects already in planning and construction phases will exceed the capacity of the South Station terminal. Preservation of the right of way for the North South Rail Link will assure that rail transportation can be enhanced or expanded in our region.

SECTION 2. Chapter 161C, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after section 7 the following section:–

Section 8. This section requires the Commonwealth of Massachusetts through its executive office of transportation and construction, in consultation with the Massachusetts turnpike authority, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority to perform a study to specifically identify and map the necessary right of way to allow for the construction of the proposed North South Rail Link connecting North Station to South Station. This study must include particular reference to the Major Investment Study/Draft Environmental Impact Report (EOEA#10270), prepared under the aegis of the executive office of environmental affairs which was concluded on March 31, 2003. A plan to preserve said right of way, once identified, shall be determined and implemented immediately.