Two-Year Project To Cost Train Station Over 100 Parking Spots

MANSFIELD, MA — The next two years will see a parking crunch at the Mansfield train station as the MBTA begins work on a $7.5 million project to improve accessibility.

About 110 spots will be temporarily lost in the process, according to Debra Willard, a residential engineer for the MBTA. She told the selectmen Wednesday that the transit authority hopes to utilize the County Street lot in Foxborough as temporary parking, with GATRA buses transporting riders from the lot to the station.

Much of the parking near the station on the inbound side will be unavailable, as well as the first row on the outbound side and a portion of a rectangular area near the Route 106 overpass.

The lost sports are not residential, but past experiences has the board worried that commuters will not use the satellite lot.

“People didn’t want to go there. I only saw one truck out there. I don’t know how utilized it will be,” Mansfield DPW Director Lee Azinheira said.

Selectman Frank DelVecchio agreed that the lot was not used when roadwork on Mansfield Avenue temporarily took away some parking spaces but said the person responsible for coordinating did not do a good job.

Selectman Jess Aptowitz said he was worried that non-residents would park in residential parking, despite the risk of getting a ticket.

“I’m concerned people won’t take that option and will park in the Mansfield spots and create a bigger problem. Even if they say ‘I don’t care I’ll take the ticket,’ we’re going to be displacing residents,” Aptowitz said.

The board agreed to ask the private lot owners if they would be interested in temporarily increasing their capacity. During citizen’s input, lot owner Karl Clemmey offered to lend the town 2-3 acres of land during construction for no charge.

Willard said she plans on reaching out to the neighboring communities about the project, with updates to be provided on social media.

The inbound parking is expected to be closed starting in June, with the affected outbound side spots to follow in July.

Image: File Photo