Reporter’s Notebook: Sounding off on the Grafton & Upton Railroad, meet Grafton’s new officers

Select Board member Ray Mead has had it with the horns.

Those would be the horns that sound every time the Grafton & Upton Railroad cross the intersection of Routes 30 and 140 — which, given that its main depot is nearby, is quite a lot. Federal law requires the sounding of the train horn four times when crossing a street. In areas without gates, the railroad must also use a flag man to stop traffic.

“what’s our next step and what do we need to do to get those horns stop blowing down there?” Mead asked during last week’s Select Board meeting.

It’s not the first time someone has asked that question.

Back in 2019, when the railroad was planning federally funded improvements, including the gates now in place to block cars, the railroad made a proposal: if East Street could become one-way, it would make the intersection a “quiet zone,” where the horns would not sound. It was one of three proposed options, the only one with a quiet zone — and residents hated it. The railroad ultimately, to turn a phrase, went in another direction.

With the gates now in place, Mead said the traffic issues are even worse, with the intersection at times blocked for 30 minutes at a time.

The Select Board asked Town Administrator Evan Brassard to reach out to the railroad to “open a line of communication.”

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Have you met the Grafton Police Department’s newest members?

Police Chief Normand Crepeau introduced Officer Anna Padgett and Officer Coryn Dias to the Select Board last week, welcoming the pair to the force. The two women will be undergoing field training over the next few weeks.

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