Cape Flyer

Apparently it's official: the CapeFLYER will be stopping at Wareham next summer. According to a local newspaper state officials visited Wareham to select a location for a new 300' high-level platform. It will be on Merchants Way west of the present station and near the feed and grain store by the tracks. There is a lot of unused paved parking in this area and will eliminate conflicting use of Merchants Way directly behind the stores. Not sure when construction is supposed to begin. GATRA bus routes and destinations will be changed to accommodate train passengers. Good start!

highgreen215 wrote:Apparently it's official: the CapeFLYER will be stopping at Wareham next summer. According to a local newspaper state officials visited Wareham to select a location for a new 300' high-level platform. It will be on Merchants Way west of the present station and near the feed and grain store by the tracks. There is a lot of unused paved parking in this area and will eliminate conflicting use of Merchants Way directly behind the stores. Not sure when construction is supposed to begin. GATRA bus routes and destinations will be changed to accommodate train passengers. Good start!

Sounds like you are describing this location: http://goo.gl/maps/D77g6" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Could you provide a link to the story, or fiddle with the map above to provide more details?

Here's a link to the story:

"CapeFLYER to stop in Wareham"
http://www.wickedlocal.com/wareham/news ... in-Wareham" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Wareham Courier via WickedLocal.com - 11/19/13

Yes, Arlington.

If they were smart, they would schedule GATRA buses from Mattapoisett and Marion (Tabor Academy) to meet the trains, at least on a trial basis. Also a call service like the MBTA's "The Ride" might work to service the beach communities (Parkwood, Tempest Knob Terrace, Pinehurst, Cromesett, Briarwood, Little Harbor, etc.) and the inland pond communities. They are already talking about rescheduling buses from Onset and Swift's Beach.

I wonder what (if any) impact this may have on the Flyer's future..

Commission Considers Third Bridge Over Cape Cod Canal
BOURNE (CBS) – A commission looking for ways to alleviate Cape Cod traffic says it’s looking into the possibility of adding a third bridge across the canal.

The Public Private Partnership Oversight Commission confirmed a story in the Cape Cod Times that the new canal crossing would run parallel to the Sagamore Bridge.

“As part of the plan, the new bridge would be tolled, which would generate the revenue required to pay for construction and for maintenance costs going forward,” DOT spokesperson Michael Verseckes said in an email to WBZ-TV.

The new bridge would be designated to one-way traffic, and the Sagamore would only accompany traffic from the opposite direction.

READ THE STORY: http://boston.cbslocal.com/2013/12/14/c ... cod-canal/

papabarn wrote:

approach caution signal.jpg

I wonder what (if any) impact this may have on the Flyer's future..

Commission Considers Third Bridge Over Cape Cod Canal
BOURNE (CBS) – A commission looking for ways to alleviate Cape Cod traffic says it’s looking into the possibility of adding a third bridge across the canal.

The Public Private Partnership Oversight Commission confirmed a story in the Cape Cod Times that the new canal crossing would run parallel to the Sagamore Bridge.

“As part of the plan, the new bridge would be tolled, which would generate the revenue required to pay for construction and for maintenance costs going forward,” DOT spokesperson Michael Verseckes said in an email to WBZ-TV.

The new bridge would be designated to one-way traffic, and the Sagamore would only accompany traffic from the opposite direction.

READ THE STORY: http://boston.cbslocal.com/2013/12/14/c ... cod-canal/

Pfft! And how many times over the last 60 years has this story run? Once every year or two? Always months after another summer of driving hell.

It's like clockwork. And it'll get roundly panned because Cape residents won't even support the Bourne rotary flyover. Won't support the Southside Connector linking MA 25 with US 6 across the desolate base land. Won't support widening US 6 to 4 lanes east of Exit 9, 6 lanes closer to the Sagamore, or even widen the shoulders enough so an accident doesn't lock it solid for 8 miles. Between that and not even having the full transit options built out the bridge talk ends up being a nonstarter every single time.

This time is no different. It doesn't matter if it's got a public-private twist to it. There's always a new gimmick like that the 3 or 4 times per decade they resurrect the idea. It never works.


If they're smart, this time when the locals puke it right back in the state's faces they'll warn in no uncertain terms that they better see full commuter rail before anyone wastes another minute or dollar on the same old asphalt studies that have been mowed down at the starting gates every time for the last 40 years.

If a new bridge is just one way and tolled one way, that means the Bourne will become more of a cluster. That makes it hard to take this seriously -- ObRail: it won't affect the Flyer, or any other initiatives.

Even a third bridge is eventually built, it won't see it's first motor vehicle for many, many years away. By then commuter rail will probably be running. Last week, it was reported in the free Wareham Weekly that the selectmen and local state representative sent a joint letter to the governor stating that Wareham is prepared to support the extension of commuter rail service through to their town. It said they did this after seeing how Hingham and Cohasset nearly derailed the deactivation of the Greenbush branch. Wareham really wants this service. The Flyer stopping there next year is just the beginning.

What would make even more sense would be
for the extension to be brought into Buzzards Bay..
a matter of only a few miles and you really wouldn't have
to upgrade to 79 mph to make it workable
Personally I don't see the numbers supporting commuter rail
across the bridge but into BB it would draw enough
Cape patronage to justify it..

MickD wrote:What would make even more sense would be
for the extension to be brought into Buzzards Bay..
a matter of only a few miles and you really wouldn't have
to upgrade to 79 mph to make it workable
Personally I don't see the numbers supporting commuter rail
across the bridge but into BB it would draw enough
Cape patronage to justify it..

Oh we had quite a conversation about that over the summer! Go back to page.. 25 or 30 and look through the thread from there. Pages upon pages of very insightful info, thoughts, etc. Even former longtime RR employees (who don't particularly care for "what if" scenarios, proposals, etc.) have said that commuter rail to Hyannis is one proposal that should come to fruition. And that is regardless of whether or not there is a third bridge over the canal.

The idea of a 3rd bridge is and old one and in today's money would cost billions. I doubt the state or the feds could justify spending so much on one bridge that would only help a couple of months a year.

Been away from the forums for a bit nh2060..
but on the old Cape Cod Commuter Rail threads
this very same issue was raised...
One problem with year round commuter service
is in quite a few of the towns here the population
is predominantly seniors who obviously aren't
gonna' commute...
Another is the declining population on The Cape
The extension to Wareham makes sense because
it's growing..fast..
Wareham has obviously encouraged that growth..
The towns here aren't exactly known for it..

People forget that, in fact, a large part of the Cape traffic problem occurs after
people get there, especially along Route 28. Putting in another bridge would
just bring more cars down and make that even worse. I don't believe they're
serious about that, especially as they recently completed a lot of work on the
Sagamore rotary.

On another topic: not sure about CR to Hyannis. That's a long ways (2 hours each way),
even with faster running rail, which I don't see happening soon. I would say the only
thing to be expected from that would be maybe a morning train in and an evening
train back, once a day. Don't see there being enough demand for more than that.

I don't see how another bridge is going to help.

I'm not sure about Commuter Rail to Hyannis (Buzzards Bay is reasonable) but there defiantly has to be a frequent service over the canal. I know Cape Rail wanted to run a shuttle, and that may be the best idea. Run it between Middleboro-Hyannis or BB-HYA. I think the biggest pro for potential rail users is not having to drive over the bridge. So if a family in Southeastern MA or RI wanted to do a day trip or meet family, they could park at middleboro with a possible overnight parking scheme, and they will completely avoid 495 traffic.

I think the Cape Flyer is great for seasonal service, and should be expanded, but I think the best use of money would be a shuttle to avoid the bridges.