Yellow stars indicate the three sites in Lincoln where the MBTA is proposing to put monopoles (click to enlarge).
By Alice Waugh
The MBTA plans to install three monopole towers along the commuter rail tracks in Lincoln to comply with a federal mandate for emergency train stop controls. The concrete towers will range in height from about 65 to 75 feet.
Because the pole sites are within the MBTA’s right of way, the agency is not required to obtain approval from town land use boards unless the sites fall within a wetlands area, said Director of Planning and Land Use Jennifer Burney, adding that she heard about the plan only indirectly.
At least one of the towers will have “multiple arrays” of antennas for both train control and passenger Wi-Fi access, according to a Request for Determination of Applicability submitted to the Conservation Commission by Ramaker & Associates, a Wisconsin engineering firm hired by the MBTA. The tower will also support a radio equipment cabinet, and a 5-by-5-foot pad is proposed to support future radio equipment.
In response to a request from the town, the MBTA will attend the Lincoln Planning Board meeting on April 26 to give an overview of the project and answer questions. Representatives from the Conservation Commission and the Walden Woods Project will also attend, Burney said.
The monopoles will carry telecommunications equipment for a computerized system that combines GPS and wireless radio to monitor trains for excessive speed or proximity and to stop them before a collision or derailment can result. The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Positive Train Control regulations stem from the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008.
The MBTA plans to install a total of 330 poles along the commuter rail system starting in April with the Fitchburg and Rockport lines, said Jason Johnson, deputy press secretary for the MBTA.
The MBTA has also entered into a partnership with inMotion Wireless to offer commuter rail and boat passengers free Wi-Fi and broadband Internet access. The contractor paying for the monopole installations will also “have the option to examine private revenue generation” by adding antennas for cell phone companies and other commercial users, Johnson said.
To work properly, the poles need to be a maximum distance apart depending on the curvature of the track. They are being spaced as far apart as possible (an average of 1.3 miles) to minimize the number of poles required, and sites in “the least obtrusive areas available” were chosen, Johnson said. “In addition, this infrastructure has been designed as a multi-use structure that could support the needs for additional projects in the future, limiting the need for redundant building on the right of way,” he said.
Burney said MBTA officials told her that they might be open to suggestions about altering the locations of the monopoles only if there were “very small adjustments” of less than 30 feet involved. They have also agreed in principle to a “balloon test” where a tethered balloon is sent aloft at each site up to the height of the proposed pole so people in the area can see how high the top of each pole will be, and from what distance it can be seen, she said.
The Massachusetts Historical Commission has requested a “viewshed” analysis and archeological survey of the planned monopole site near where Route 126 goes over the train tracks. That area is close to the Walden Woods historical landscape as well as a Native American cremation and burial site that has not yet been systematically investigated.
Will these poles be light emitting? Will they be in the flight path from Hanscom Field?
I would think some of this money would be better spent improving the subway in town. Certainly we do not have to have wireless access, that is not a safety issue!
There is a subway in town? Does it go to Boston?
It is MBTA right of way. End of conversation. They don’t tell us what we can do and we need to mind our business. Lincoln Way seems to be same as those people buying by airport and complaining about noise.
Nancy, speak for yourself.
We need better wireless coverage.
Although it is never easy to accept the preemptive authority of a state agency, a potential benefit of the proposed towers is that they may finally provide a relatively benign solution to the coverage gaps in two neighborhoods that have been relentlessly targeted by cellular telephone companies — the Red Rail Farm/Walden Pond area, and the Route 117 corridor near the Weston line. About 11 years ago, the Planning Board did a comprehensive town-wide study of potential cell tower sites in an attempt to relieve the pressure we were experiencing from cell phone carriers who were seeking to locate at will throughout the town. Ironically, we identified the MBTA right of way sites near Red Rail Farm and Weston as viable options, but we were unable to arouse any interest from the MBTA. They are now interested, and they seem willing to work with Lincoln stakeholders.
A few points:
1. The Planning Board should reach out to the affected neighborhoods and invite them to attend the 4/28 meeting. The Walden Woods Project and DCR/Walden Pond should also be notified.
2. Although the MBTA appears to be exempt from local zoning, the Planning Board should assess the extent to which the current proposals do not comply with current zoning dimensional controls. This might help the town negotiate any issues of concern to abutters.
3. The Planning Board should consider whether it makes sense to put the proposed sites into the Wireless Communications Facilities overlay district. This might provide some benefit to the Town in the future by discouraging cell phone companies from attempting to negotiate siting with other property owners.
Eleanor,
We are too far from the airport for it to matter. If it did, regulators would have handled it. We are not FAA here.
Nancy,
I am not sure if you are a commuter, but I know hundreds of my fellow train commuters will beg to differ with you. I, for one, welcome any and all improvements to the commuter rail, our town infrastructure (including wireless coverage), etc. It only increases attractiveness of this town, value of our properties (which is important, when we want to re-finance, renovate, or sell), and improves our tax base.
The MBTA is attending the Planning Board meeting on April 26th at 7:30pm to discuss the project and proposed locations. They have also agreed to conduct balloon tests at a later date. The MBTA is exercising their right to install monopoles within their right of way but comply with FAA, Wetlands etc… Please visit the Planning Board website for more information: https://burneyj2.wix.com/lincolnplanning#!mbta-towers/xro9l
Sincerely,
Jennifer Burney, Director of Planning & Land Use
You can’t believe anything they say. We are talking about a company that cannot find where a 100 ton locomotive is on their tracks or where the keys are to start their locomotives when it is cold out — They obviously have something else up their sleeve.
And the point here is for them to be able to do so (find the locomotive; can’t help them with the keys). I find it ironic that someone is complaining about a company not being able to locate something, yet when they want to install a system for locating things is unhappy about that as well.
For me this is about train safety. Positive train control==safer trains, and since y 3 year old son and I ride the train nearly every day, I value that. Bring the towers.