Town Officials, Lt. Governor Celebrate North Common Project

MANSFIELD, MA — The results of a $2.37 million state grant awarded to Mansfield in 2015 could be seen across the North Common Tuesday afternoon. Over at the train station, commuters were coming home and a GATRA bus waited to take train riders to a parking lot. At the recently constructed apartments at 1 Mansfield Ave., movers were bringing in furniture. It was proof of the grant’s success and reason enough for celebration from local and state officials.

Lt. Gov Karyn Polito appeared at the North Common Tuesday to help celebrate the completion of the grant, which aided the town with work at the train station and construction to support the new 81-unit building.

“The $2.3 million of infrastructure has certainly helped you leverage private investment, but it's also textbook in terms of planning. You have transit and housing here, and then when you have a density of people coming to a neighborhood, they need shops, they need services, and they can have a good quality of life raising a family. The schools are good and they can commute a half-hour on an express train to Boston if they need to,” Polito said.

One of the biggest changes to the downtown area was the transformation of North Main Street around the train station that turned the road into a two-way street, taking away the need for vehicles heading into town to drive down Mansfield Avenue.

Next to the station, Crugnale Properties built their seventh project in town, adding a transit-oriented development component to Mansfield.

“The completion of this project lets other people know what residents of Mansfield have always known: Mansfield is a destination spot for people that want to work, raise a family, and enjoy a neighborhood atmosphere but be within a short train ride to Boston and Providence. A resident can live here and enjoy the access to both cities. And a resident here can also take part in everything that Mansfield has to offer including award-winning schools, excellent town services, and a spirit of community that is second to none,” Acting Town Manager John Stanbrook said.

Stanbrook called the project phase one of development. He said he is looking forward to phase two, which includes at grade railroad crossing, roadway, and infrastructure improvements that will free up several multi-acre parcels for redevelopment on the other side of the train tracks.

Funding for the project came from a MassWorks grant. In August, Gov. Charlie Baker signed a bill to authorize the state to award about $500 million in infrastructure investment funding to communities in the state.

Image Credit: Dan Libon