Grafton & Upton Railroad ‘quiet zone’ asks public to speak up Wednesday

It’s a cold November Saturday and Michael Milanoski is standing at the intersection of Waterville and East streets, a spot complicated by an additional set of lights at North Main Street and the tracks for the Grafton & Upton Railroad.

It’s the railroad that’s brought Milanoski, president of the short-rail line, to this spot with Select Board members Jennifer Thomas and Peter Carlson. Federal law requires trains to sound horns at street crossings. Homeowners in this very residential area are hoping to make it a quiet zone.

That’s going to require a bit more than just laying off the horn. To prevent drivers from attempting to beat the train to the intersection, the railroad needs to install gates. And that will likely require making East Street one-way.

“It isn’t geometrically designed to be a no-horn zone unless this street becomes one-way,” Milanoski said.

In a town that’s not exactly known for traffic jams, this spot — where Route 30 meets Route 140, where commuters can wait several light cycles in the morning and afternoon — is a known problem. Fixing it would require state approval and, likely, state funding.

A first step in that direction will take place Wednesday night at North Grafton Elementary School, where the railroad and town plan to hold a public hearing at 7 p.m. An overview of the situation and suggestions on how to fix it — the noise, the traffic — will be presented.

It’s now been a decade since Jon Delli Prescoli purchased the short rail line, which had fallen into such disrepair that entire sections of track were missing. Controversy followed the purchase as overgrowth was cut back, trains began running and most notoriously, giant liquid propane tanks were set in place at the railroad’s North Grafton depot.

“Homeland Security comes in and reviews the propane tanks,” Milanoski said. “They’re using it as a model for future sites.”