I know I have spoken about this before, but upon reading in the Recorder this week, I see that South Deerfield and other local towns support more Amtrak trains going through our town. They do not stop here nor have a station here for boarders, so what does the town get out of it?
I am still hoping that the railroad overpass on North Main Street in South Deerfield gets fixed soon. I thought it would be repaired this past summer, then I heard that in December at least some attempt or plans would be put in place. What is the hold up? MassDOT said this bridge/overpass should have been completed in the 1980s and that was 40 years ago. Does the railroad have input on the replacement and do they share in the cost?
My main complaint is the train goes by the grammar school at about 80 mph, about 25 feet from the playground. This is very dangerous, especially for buses and lots of parents picking up their kids. With the bridge out, this area and homes surrounding, sees about 1,000 cars a day, plus about 50 buses and semis and delivery trucks. The noise, stink, and traffic congestion does not help us with sinus, asthma and COPD and other health issues. Now I hear that one of the other exits out of town on North Hillside has developed several water main breaks, along with poor road conditions and lots of speeding with several signs posted to slow down. Poor kids, pedestrians and pets have issues getting through to their homes, especially with no sidewalks in our North /Conway streets area.
I don’t see any of our police force out in the area of North Main and Conway streets directing traffic nor helping folks get onto Route 5 & 10 when especially trying to cross over to get on Route 91 entrance. There have been many fender benders there over the years. There have been two deaths from railroad accidents in the last year. Does this matter to anyone?
I have lived here over 30 years and would invite the Select Board an opportunity to come to our area to see for themselves how the neighbors cannot even get out of their own driveways. We ourselves are 10 feet from the road and I have seen lots of litter, hear lots of noise and see trampled grass in our area.
With the increase of the Amtrak going by about 10 times a day, as early as 5 a.m. and throughout the day, there is no peace and quiet. And now I hear the need to replace the Stillwater Bridge at a whooping cost of $60 million? Why don’t we start small with the overpass on North Main to ease congestion and create some quiet before we start another project? Quite frankly with $400,000 in funds used to buy the Catholic church for senior housing that no one is interested doing, the work on the 1888 old senior center to create a town hall addition, roughly $10 million to complete the sewer plant and another $300,000 for an elevator for the library because the first one is faulty, I am wondering how the town can afford to do all these projects, especially when the seniors have no place to live and be together. We have to pay to rent a place in Sunderland.
How we can afford these projects? Your guess is as good as mine. I hope we have a money tree or an in with Donald Trump to get all this funding but of course taxes will go up and assessments will climb if the tax rate does not go up. Rents are few and outrageous. I use to love this town but it is getting too expensive to live here and that is a shame.
Shirley Majewski lives in South Deerfield.