City of Pittsfield May 13, 2014 Background The Housatonic Railroad Company is proposing to restore passenger rail service between Pittsfield and New York City.
The proposed service would operate along the Berkshire Line, approximately 38 miles of track from the MA/CT state line to Pittsfield. Planning for the Service BRPC received a grant from the U.S Department of Transportation to study and develop recommendations on the number and location of passenger rail stations in Berkshire County.
Other aspects of this work include a railroad operations analysis, a study of the environmental and community impacts and preliminary station layout and design work.
Tonights Focus BRPCs preliminary analysis identifies Pittsfield as a likely location for a passenger rail station. northernmost municipality along the corridor largest population center in Berkshire County popular attractions and accommodations good connectivity with surrounding municipalities infrastructure exists to support potential growth
Tonights Focus With Pittsfield as the likely northern terminus of the proposed passenger rail service the question then becomes where in Pittsfield should a passenger rail station be located? First Step To identify potential locations, BRPC conducted a GIS analysis to identify developable land along the rail corridor and to identify potential environmental constraints on that land.
The results were mapped and target areas delineated.
Second Step To further narrow potential locations, BRPC developed station siting objectives that focus on a target areas:
likely economic impact access and connectivity conformity with municipal planning efforts conformity with community character operational constraints environmental impact
Preliminary Considerations BRTA Intermodal Center is a strong candidate location
existing rail/bus station good interface with public transportation downtown location to support existing commercial uses surrounding area is densely populated good pedestrian accessibility complement the Citys efforts on North Street Intermodal Center Preliminary Considerations Other locations considered
West Housatonic/Hawthorne Avenue likely not available - current use of the site is the Pittsfield DPW Garage/Yard
Industrial Drive access to Route 7 is problematic; multiple environmental constraints exist; outside of the downtown area
Hawthorne Avenue
Industrial Drive Thoughts/Comments/Opinions Is the Intermodal Center a preferred location?
Concerns with the use of the Intermodal Center as a passenger rail station for the proposed service?
Should BRPC consider other locations not previously mentioned, if yes, what locations?
Future Considerations If the Intermodal Center is chosen as the actual site of the passenger rail station the following matters may come before the City:
Handling increased demand for long-term and short-term parking
The potential redevelopment of a small city-owned parking lot into a station entrance and platform
Construction of an elevated pedestrian walkway from the existing Intermodal Center to the new platform
Questions/Comments
Brian Domina (413) 442-1521 ext.14 bdomina@berkshireplanning.org