Railroad Work Begins, Crossings Start Next Week

Work to restore long-inactive railroad tracks has begun in Milford, and contractors for the Grafton and Upton Railroad next week will begin to install railroad crossings across several roads.

The schedule follows: Vernon Street crossing, May 8; Depot Street, May 15; South Main Street, May 22 and Green Street in Hopedale, May 30.

The crossing installation on Route 140 has not been scheduled, said Doug Pizzi, a spokesman for the Grafton and Upton Railroad. That crossing, south of Milford Regional Medical Center, will be the most difficult because the road is heaily traveled.

Roads will be closed for one day of construction for each crossing, said Pizzi. In the event of unforeseen circumstances, a crossing may take two days, but in these cases, the road would only be closed during the daytime.

Milford Police will be coordinating the detours on the days of construction.

The railroad, based in Marlborough, last year signed a contract wth a bulk goods shipper, which will send 600 boxcars a year initially through Grafton to the Hopedale yard.

The 16-mile rail line passes through Milford and crosses roads at Route 140 (Cape Road), Vernon Street, Depot Street and South Main Street (behind PiNZ). Each of those crossings will get a new installation, to replace the crossings that were removed by town officials more than a decade ago. [Editor's note: see attached PDF]

The work will be covered by a $1 million state economic development grant. Any costs on the crossings that exceed that $1 million will be covered by the railroad.

The towns removed the rail crossings more than a decade ago, when the rail line stopped sending trains over these sections of track.