Describing himself as “annoyed” by the pace of work since the MBTA shuttered the South Attleboro commuter rail station last year, a state representative has his eyes set on using the annual budget to force its reopening by summer 2023.
Rep. Jim Hawkins, an Attleboro Democrat, and other elected officials have been pressing the T for years to make renovations at the South Attleboro station a priority. But the transit agency’s draft version of a five-year capital spending plan, in Hawkins’s opinion, does not go far enough toward making the project’s completion a reality.
“They keep delaying, delaying, delaying, and that’s a problem,” Hawkins told the News Service. “That’s a problem for our community. I’m thinking, we’re a Gateway City – if this was a wealthy community, this never would have happened.”
Hawkins filed an amendment (#344) to the House’s $49.6 billion state budget bill, which is set to be debated next week, that would require the T to “expend funds to complete construction and upgrades to South Attleboro Commuter Rail Station to ensure the complete reopening of the station for commuter rail and commuter service” in fiscal year 2023, which begins July 1, 2022 and runs through June 30, 2023.
In February 2021, the T announced it would halt all commuter rail service to the South Attleboro station, citing “significant deterioration of the pedestrian overpass” that posed safety concerns.
Hawkins said the footbridge looms as a dangerous threat, describing it as “worse” than the closed-off, dilapidated JFK/UMass station staircase through which David Jones fell to his death last fall.
MBTA officials plan to reconstruct the South Attleboro overpass during a broader project to improve the station, which Hawkins said is primed for demand since it is located near significant business and housing development.
Asked about the timeline for reopening South Attleboro to passengers, an MBTA spokesperson said the current capital investment plan is “still just a draft” until board members approve a final version next month.
“Re-opening the South Attleboro Station remains a priority for the MBTA and we continue to advance the project’s design to the 100% level, while also exploring opportunities to secure the necessary funding for construction,” spokesperson Lisa Battiston said.
