Table Of Content

ih Sbietoni 3 999 Submitted to: ME Y | Unik. Submitted by: 4 ait - i Pat 4 werioh? Worcester Commuter Rail Extension Project APPENDIX - VOLUME 1 FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT MILLBURY STATION - GRAFTON STATION - RAILROAD OPERATIONS EOEA No. 9154 Commonwealth of Massachusetts William F. Weld Governor Argeo Paul Cellucci Lieutenant Governor James J. Kerasiotes Secretary and MBTA Chairman Patrick J. Moynihan MBTA General Manager Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2022 with funding from Boston Public Library https://archive.org/details/worcestercommutemass Worcester Commuter Rail Extension Project Final EIR APPENDIX - VOLUME | ¢ Introduction ¢ List of all Comment Letters on November 1994 DEIR * MEPA Certificate and Comment Letters on November 1994 DEIR ¢ Response to Comments on November 1994 DEIR ¢ List of all Comment Letters on July 1995 FEIR ¢ MEPA Certificate and Comment Letters on July 1995 FEIR ¢ Response to Comments on July 1995 FEIR Appendix - Volume | + AMIE <6 = ee { Worcester Commuter Rail Extension Project Final EIR APPENDIX - VOLUME | Introduction _—k_k——_++ Appendix Volume | presents all comment letters received on the November 1994 DEIR and on the July 1995 FEIR - Railroad Right-of-Way and Layover Facility. In a Notice of Project Change submitted to the Secretary of Environmental Affairs on October 31, 1995, permission was sought to prepare and file two further Final EIR’s in lieu of on Final EIR for Stations and Railroad Operations. This request was prompted by the unresolved issues pertaining to the proposed Ashland, Southborough, and Westborough Stations, especially pertaining to their interaction around ridership and traffic and the need to address these stations simultaneously with reconsideration of a possible regional station. The Secretary issued a Certificate on January 10, 1996, which approved the above request. Thus, the July 1995 FEIR for Railroad Right-of-Way and Layover Facility is designated as FEIR #1; the current FEIR for Millbury Station - Grafton Station - Railroad Operations is designated as FEIR #2; and the future FEIR for Ashland, Southborough, and Westborough Station is designated as FEIR #3. Comments on the November 1994 DEIR were received from 99 different sources, including the Certificate of the Secretary of Environmental Affairs. Comments on the July 1995 FEIR (Railroad Right-of-Way and Layover Facility) were received from 9 different sources, including the Certificate of the Secretary of Environmental Affairs. Following is a presentation of quoted individual comments received on the DEIR and on the FEIR. Each comment is responded to in a manner which answers fully the comment or refers to the appropriate section in the current FEIR which covers Millbury Station - Grafton Station - Railroad Operations. Some of the DEIR comments were responded to in the July 1995 FEIR. Those comments are considered to have been responded to in a adequate manner and are noted as “Response presented in FEIR #1, Railroad Right-of-Way and Layover Facility, July 1995." Any reference notations refer to FEIR #1. The balance of the DEIR comments and the comments received on FEIR #1, as each of these bears on the Millbury and Grafton Stations and on Basic Service Railroad Operations, are responded to in the current FEIR #2. Some carry-over issues are also addressed. Those comments which relate to the Appendix - Volume | Worcester Commuter Rail Extension Project Final EIR Ashland, Southborough, and Westborough Stations are noted as “Response will be in FEIR #3, Ashland, Southborough, and Westborough Stations.” Again, some carry-over issues will be addressed also. The individual comment within each comment letter (The Secretary’s Certificate has been designated as Comment Letter No. 1) have been number, i.e. Comment No. 13 in Letter No. 2 is called Comment 2-13. All comment letters are listed in the first part of this Appendix, followed by the full text of each letter with the individual comments numbered in the margins. Appendix - Volume | Worcester Commuter Rail Extension Project Final EIR MASSACHUSETTS BAY TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY Worcester Commuter Rail Extension Project EOEA No. 9154 CERTIFICATE AND COMMENT LETTERS on November 1994 DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT MEPA Correspondence —k——&_ 1. | EOEA DEIR Certificate 3-16-95 2. Citizens Advisory Committee Comments on DEIR 11-9-94 State Officials and Agencies MA Senate/Senator Matthew J. Amorello 3-9-95 MA Senate/Senator Robert A. Durand 3-6-95 House of Representatives/Harriette L. Chandler 3-7-95 Department of Food and Agriculture/Marcia Starkey 3-6-95 MA Historical Commission/Brona Simon 3-9-95 DEP Central Region/Mary J. Richards 3-9-95 Regional Agencies and Organizations 9. Central MA Regional Planning/Carl Hellstrom 3-9-95 10. MA Restaurant Association 2-5-95 11. MA Audubon Society/E. Heidi Roddis 3-8-95 12. Bicycle Coalition of MAJohn Allen 1-22-95 13. Metropolitan Area Planning Council/David Soule 2-28-95 14. _METROWEST/Charles E. Gaffney 3-7-95 15. Assoc. for Public Transportation/Dennis Campbell 3-8-95 16. MASCO/Robert Tassinari 2-16-95 Appendix - Volume | Worcester Commuter Rail Extension Project Final EIR City Officials, Agencies and Organizations RM Oe ep ee Cae oe a ees ea oe Th MBTA Advisory Board Capital Planning Committee/Bernice Mader 3-8-95 18. Preservation Worcester/Patrice O’Malley Hagan 2-27-95 bee Worcester Office of Planning and Community Development/ Stephen F. O'Neil 2-24-95 ai). Union Station Alliance 3-9-95 ee Andrew B. O’Donnell/Member Worcester Commuter Rail Task Force 3-9-95 Worcester City Manager’s Office/Thomas Hoover & David Forsberg 3-13-95 Worcester Business Development Corporation/Thomas J. Andrews 3-9-95 Millbury MBTA Advisory Committee/Brennan F. Wall 2-1-95 Tufts University/Franklin M. Loew 2-24-95 Grafton Board of Selectmen 3-6-95 Southborough Board of Selectmen 3-7-95 Westborough School Committee/Lydia DaSilva 3-1-95 Westborough Planning Board/Richard Brady 2-21-95 Westborough Board of Selectmen 3-6-95 Westborough Police Department 2-27-95 Westborough Historical Commission 1-10-95 Westborough MBTA Advisory Committee 3-3-95 People for the Ashland West Alternative/John Kelly 2-17-95 Ashland Board of Selectmen 3-6-95 Ashland MBTA Rail Committee 3-9-95 Ashland Town Planner/Stephen Kerlin 3-9-95 Ashland Office of Selectmen and Town Manager 11-22-94 Framingham Planning Department 3-7-95 Hopkinton Office of the Selectmen 3-8-95 Hopkinton Appropriations Committee/John Woodward 3-8-95 Newton Department of Planning and Development 3-2-95 Wellesley Board of Selectmen 1-6-95 Boston Redevelopment Authority 3-6-95 Boston Environmental Department 3-8-95 Millbury - Citizen Comments Rs | CT SL ae, LeeLee 6 oe re ae 46. Brennan F. Wall 2-17-95 Grafton - Citizen Comments 47. Scott Rossiter 2-12-95 Appendix - Volume |