The long running saga of South Coast rail was given a boost in late March with the US Army Corps of Engineers releasing their Draft Environmental Impact Statement and the Commonwealth naming Stoughton as their preferred route.  The full 2,500 page report can be found on the SRPEDD website.

The Army Corps does not name their preferred route, but the report makes it clear that the Attleboro, Middleborough and enhanced bus alternatives all have significant operational or environmental problems that would probably remove them from further consideration.

SRPEDD has long supported the Stoughton option as delivering the highest ridership and shortest travel times. 

The Army Corps will be taking public input on their report at two public hearings to take place in Mansfield on May 4 and in New Bedford on May 5.  Go to the SRPEDD event calendar for details.

SRPEDD has worked on South Coast Rail issues for over a decade, most recently on station planning, priority development and protection area designations, and generating publicly available GIS data (see article below).  The actions by the state and the Army Corps will move this project closer to reality, although significant hurdles remain.

Where is Jackie in this photo?  The first of SRPEDD's Facebook friends (please "Like" our page!) to correctly respond on our Facebook Wall wins a free SRPEDD mug! 

Hi my name is Jackie Schmidt and I am a Senior Transportation Planner at SRPEDD. I started as a traffic counting intern in 2003 and became a full time planner when I graduated from the UMass Dartmouth Civil Engineering program in 2008. I mainly work on Pavement Management, Safety, and Congestion studies. I also edit video for public outreach purposes. SRPEDD's videos can be found on  .

One of the most rewarding aspects of my job is working with communities to highlight problem areas and find easy, low cost alternatives to improve the overall quality and safety of our roads. Other fun stuff I have done at SRPEDD include dodging cars while placing traffic counters, getting to know all the roads on the South Coast intimately, mucking around in swamps and culverts as part of the GRRIP program and trying to get video of congestion on Route 24 without actually being on Route 24. One of the most surprising things I have encountered is the dedication that many people in this field possess and the lengths they will go to improve their community.  

I currently live in Middleborough with my parents and my younger brother. When I'm not at SRPEDD, I can usually be found at the gym, kayaking or sailing on Buzzard's Bay, photographing something odd, or skiing any chance I get. I am an off-again on-again member of the Sippican Choral Society and I play the piano. I enjoy pina coladas and getting caught in the rain... oops, sorry, wrong song!    

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SRPEDD is pleased to invite you to its 55th Annual Meeting! Please click here to register on the SRPEDD website and acquire more event details.  We hope to see you on May 26! 

Data from the 2010 US Census

Since 1950, Southeastern Massachusetts has been gaining population considerably every decade.  In 2010, the total population of the region stood at 616,670, an increase of over 200,000 people from six decades ago.  However, less than 20,000 people were added to the area since the count in 2000 - the lowest gain in a decade since 1950!  It is interesting to note that this number represents a 3.2% population increase which approximates State's population growth rate between 2000 and 2010.  

The trend in population growth within the region differed by community.  Seven towns experienced dramatic population increases, led by Middleborough which grew by 16% due to its proximity to major highway networks and commuter rail, which in turn provided good employment access, land availability, and relatively cheaper housing costs. Of the four cities in the region, two (Attleboro and New Bedford) saw modest population increases while the remaining two (Fall River and Taunton) lost some residents.   Overall, the region's population growth is stable.

Please look for another installment of regional Census Data in our next newsletter!  In the meantime, visit our website for more analysis from our Census expert, Dr. Josefina F. Reynes.

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Marion Road and Perry Street in Middleborough

As part of a statewide effort, the Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District (SRPEDD) is in the process of conducting Road Safety Audits (RSA) on 11 corridors in the region. These corridors were chosen due to their high rate of lane departure crashes. A lane departure or "run-off-the-road" crash occurs when a vehicle crosses the centerline or leaves the roadway. An RSA is a formal safety examination of a road or intersection that attempts to determine the reason crashes are occurring and in this case, why motorists are running off the road.

Three roads were identified in the town of Middleborough with excessive lane departure crashes over a three year period. These roads include: Spruce Street with 12 crashes; Marion Road with 14 crashes (1 fatality); and Wareham Street with 23 crashes. As part of this process, a major public outreach effort was made to generate input from the residents who most often travel these roads. Individual request letters were mailed to a cross section of residents, a request for input was placed on the town's website and an announcement was provided on local cable television. As a result of this outreach work, SRPEDD received numerous helpful responses from residents.

A formal audit was conducted on March 24 and was attended by members of SRPEDD, the Federal Highway Administration and representatives from the town's Police Department, Highway Department, Fire Department, the Town Planning Director, and the Town Administrator. Specific issues and problem locations were highlighted with discussion focusing on potential solutions. In the coming months SRPEDD will provide detailed reports on all three roads with recommendations for improvements. SRPEDD will also conduct studies on 3 intersections identified as safety problems resulting from the RSAs. The overall goal of these efforts is to provide the town with targeted, low cost and effective measures to improve safety.

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To help raise awareness to the South Coast Bikeways and to celebrate Bay State Bike Week SRPEDD, along with Mass in Motion and UMass Dartmouth will be hosting the "People on Bicycles Connecting Southcoast Communities" Ride on Sunday, May 15, from 1pm - 3pm. Bay State Bike Week, which runs from May 14 -20 is when Massachusetts celebrates bicycle transportation.

It is SRPEDD's vision to see the South Coast Bikeway become a reality. The bikeway will be a 50-mile continuous system of bike paths (or multi-use paths) and bike lanes that will connect Rhode Island to Cape Cod.  Cities and towns included in this plan are Swansea, Somerset, Fall River, Westport, Dartmouth, New Bedford, Fairhaven, Mattapoisett, Marion, Wareham and Bourne.  Several segments of the bikeway already exist in Swansea, Fall River, New Bedford, Fairhaven and Mattapoisett.

Our ride will be between Fall River and New Bedford, with a group leaving each city and meeting in the middle at UMASS Dartmouth.  The ride length between Fall River and UMASS is approximately 10 miles, and from New Bedford to UMASS approximately 12 miles. The Fall River group will leave from the Fall River Bike Path at the ATMC (Martine Street) and the New Bedford group will leave from the main entrance to Fort Rodman. T-shirts and ankle reflectors will be available courtesy of MassDOT and MassRIDES for those who register for the ride.

Please come and join us. We are all excited about promoting biking as a mode of transportation; it's safe, it's economical, it's healthy, it's environmentally-friendly, it's fast, and it's fun! 

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Screen Shot of SRPEDD's South Coast Rail Base Map 

South Coast Rail GIS shapefiles and a functional ESRI base map are now available for download from the SRPEDD Website.  These files were generated by SRPEDD for the purposes of consolidating and releasing to the public.  The shapefiles attempt to replicate - to the greatest extent possible - the data presented in the "Corridor Map" on page 7 of the South Coast Rail Economic Development and Land Use Corridor Plan. These files merge data from thirty-one (31) study area municipalitiess, three (3) Regional Planning Agencies (MAPC, OCPC, and SRPEDD), the consulting firms Goody Clancy and Regina Villa Associates, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, and MassGIS.  Please visit our website and enjoy exploring the data!

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Municipalities Participating in the Regional 911 Dispatch Study

The study to determine the feasibility of combining or consolidating 911 services in the region continues. GeoComm, the public safety communications consultant managing the study, has conducted on-site visits and collected data for a 'snap-shot' of current operations. GeoComm will compare all of its findings to state requirements and best practices to determine recommendations.

The study will determine the feasibility of establishing one or more Regional Emergency Centers or Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) for some or all of the participants. The most significant potential benefits include enhanced public safety through the PSAPs' ability to share resources, coordinate responses, increase interoperability and deliver more effective and efficient service by eliminating duplicate costs. 

The extent of these benefits will vary depending on the recommendation of full or partial consolidation or no consolidation at all if that is in the best interest of the 19 participants involved. These include the cities of Taunton, New Bedford and Fall River and the towns of Acushnet, Berkley, Dartmouth, Dighton, Fairhaven, Freetown, Lakeville, Mansfield, Marion, Middleborough, Norton, Raynham, Swansea and Wareham, as well as UMass-Dartmouth campus security and Easton, the one non-SRPEDD region town that is participating.

Draft recommendations of the study will be presented in June at a series of public hearings. Information on locations, dates and times of these hearings will be announced as soon as they are scheduled.

Contact: Ross Perry, Municipal Management Specialist

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