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Ordinance committee forwards Glen Street rail‑separation plans to full council
Summary
The Ordinance Committee voted to send layout and alteration plans for a portion of Glen Street to the full Lawrence City Council with a favorable recommendation. The state-funded project would move active rail off the traveled way, narrow the roadway and shorten a lengthy crosswalk.
The Lawrence City Ordinance Committee voted unanimously Jan. 28 to forward layout and alteration plans for a portion of Glen Street to the full City Council with a favorable recommendation.
Dan McCarthy, Lawrence planning director, presented the plan, saying the work would remove freight rail tracks from the middle of Glen Street that run through the industrial park and relocate the line onto an elevated right-of-way off the public travel lanes. “This is the freight rail line that ... serves the industrial park,” McCarthy said, describing a project the city has pursued for more than 15 years.
Committee members backed the state-funded project after McCarthy told them it would be paid entirely by state funds. He said the work is tied to state and federal grade‑separation programs, including an Industrial Rail Access Program (IRAP) grant completed last summer for a nearby spur and a Chapter 130 grade‑crossing improvement project for the Beacon and Glen intersection. McCarthy said the current paved roadway is about 42 feet wide and will be reduced to roughly 24 feet, and the work will move approximately 1,000 linear feet of track off the public street.
McCarthy said the changes will shorten an existing 80‑foot crosswalk by nearly half and reduce the chance of damage to city plows, and that the city’s fire and water departments have reviewed the plans. He added that, because the plan keeps the public way as a public way (only the paved lane is altered), the change will not affect Chapter 90 funding eligibility or require recording at the registry of deeds.
Vice Chair Salina Reyes moved the favorable recommendation and Councilor (Consular) Fidelina Santiago seconded. The committee initially requested a roll‑call to include Councilor Gregory Del Rosario, who was attending by Zoom but could not be heard; the record shows Santiago, Reyes and Chair Mark LaPlante voting yes and Del Rosario absent. The committee’s action was recorded as a favorable recommendation to the full City Council.
The full council will consider the alteration plans at a future meeting; McCarthy warned the state cannot proceed until the city adopts the alteration plans.
