This is a three shot picture taken from the cab this morning on Barbara Lane.
If you look at the map I posted on Saturday, the upper half of the area enclosed by the red line is what's in the picture I took this morning. If you look closely at the satellite image on that map, you can make out the dozens and dozens of trailers that were already being parked there whenever that satellite image was made. (Those images can be a year old, or more.)
Note that they look just like the dozens and dozens of trailers on the other side of Franklin Street in the main yard.
There were also a bunch of M&M trucks parked behind where I was sitting (in the area of the map that says "Richard O'Brien Three Decker"). So, there's already another trucking business in there, but not within the area CSX will be taking over.
Basically, except for the abandoned Shaw's, this area is already filled with trucks... mostly truck trailers and CSX rail containers.
And it's been that way since not too long after the Shaw's market closed.
Taking the Shaw's market building and parking lot will effectively double their space on that side of Franklin Street.
But anyone who thinks this will be a huge change hasn't been around that area much lately. There's constant truck traffic back and forth across Franklin Street between the main yard and this newer area all day, every day. And it's been going on for quite a while, now.
This proposed change by CSX will, essentially, shift the truck traffic off of Franklin Street and onto Grafton Street, just a few hundred feet from the I-290 entrance. They're projecting a 20% increase in the overall daily truck traffic.
2 comments:
would you have an opinion if one road is better for this traffic, Frankin or Grafton st. An overpass seems like an enormous expense, so they must feel like they need it
Have you ever seen trains on the track on Franklin st near David Clark? If so is that bad in case of emergency?
Do you think Franklin st will still be an easy way to access Belmon st from canal district or will it become less accessible over time?
As far as access to I-290, it's a "six of one, half dozen of the other" situation. To go eastbound on I-290, they now have to leave opposite the fire station, take a left onto Grafton, and take the Posner Sq entrance. To go west on I-290, they go right on Grafton, and through Washington Square to the Summer Street entrance ramp.
Moving their entrance to Grafton Street will make their truck traffic going eastbound onto I-290 much easier, but add a small chunk of Grafton street through Posner Square for them to go westbound.
It'll be interesting to find out whether they plan to keep the current Franklin Street egress available (opposite the fire station) or not...
Regarding why they want an overpass, though, I hardly go up or down that section of Franklin during business hours without seeing a truck waiting to cross from one side to the other at Barbara Lane.
The tracks that cross Franklin Street are no longer used, and I doubt they will re-activate them (but there's no firm word on that), despite the crossing signal still being there.
I don't see how Franklin Street could be made less accessible with any of this, except during the construction. Once they're done, it should actually be easier.
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