When: Monday, April 9 at 7pm
Where: Charlestown Town Hall
What: On the agenda for discussion and a possible vote by the Town Council at Monday’s meeting is an authorization of the Town Administrator, Town Treasurer and Town Solicitor to take action to protect Charlestown with respect to the 178 foot radio tower proposed for scenic Rt. 1.
Before a new tower is located in this important tourism and wildlife location, the impacts to wildlife and tourism should be thoroughly studied. Alternatively RIEMA could find another location at a higher elevation that would allow for a well screened shorter tower with fewer visual and wildlife impacts.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is the regulatory agency that will make the decision on whether to approve the tower. Comments must be sent to the FCC on or before March 27.
Thanks to residents of Burrillville who shared these two videos of tanker trucks carrying water to an existing power plant in northern Rhode Island.
When: Tuesday, December 5 at 6 p.m. (doors open at 5 p.m.)
Where: Charlestown Elementary School, 363 Carolina Back Road (Rt. 112), Charlestown (map in post)
What: Hearing to allow public comment from Charlestown citizens and others on Invenergy Thermal Development’s proposal to withdraw groundwater from Charlestown and transport it by tanker trucks to Burrillville to cool the turbines of the natural gas and diesel power plant they are seeking to build in the forest in that town.
On Tuesday, October 17, Charlestown Town Solicitor Peter Ruggiero successfully presented the Town’s motion for intervener status before the Energy Facility Siting Board (EFSB). The EFSB has determined Charlestown is […]
The eclipse in Rhode Island may have only been 67%, but the crowds at Frosty Drew Observatory in Ninigret Park on August 21 were full! Estimates on attendance range from […]
The official waiting period after the release of the Federal Railroad Administrations’s (FRA) Final Tier 1 Environmental Impact Statement ended on January 31. The FRA could have published a Record […]
Ken Payne is a student of the history of the structure of Rhode Island government and a recipient of a lifetime achievement award in 1998 from the Environment Council of Rhode Island for his work on rivers policy and protection.
Their consensus was that the people along the Old Saybrook to Kenyon ByPass have to remain vigilant in their opposition and continue to document their positions in both town and state plans. Those currently in positions of power will not be those who make decisions in the future, and regardless of the current decisions, the communities must create documentation that protects historic buildings, open space, farms, and tribal lands. The struggle continues.
Charlestown has the 3rd lowest tax rate in the state. Even with responsible development that will increase, but with the increased density that is often proposed, we could see much higher tax rates. We benefit from Ruth’s experience on the Planning Commission to continue to protect our environment and tax rate, as they clearly are closely related.
When: Thursday, March 30 at 7PM
Where: Kettle Pond Visitor Center, 50 Bend Rd., Charlestown
What: Status Update and Discussion on “Old Saybrook to Kenyon Bypass”
Our guest speaker is Gregory Stroud, Ph.D., Director of Special Projects at the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation. Greg is also the founder of the grassroots advocacy group on High-Speed Rail, SECoast.
Links below are to letters of opposition written by organizations or officials to the Federal Railroad Administration. We don’t yet have links to all documents. If we’ve missed anything, please […]
Despite bone chilling cold and wet and some roads still covered from an overnight snow, a crowd of well over 100 gathered in the path of the proposed rail bypass […]
Julie Carroccia spoke on behalf of Charlestown at the Rally against the Bypass held in Mystic Connecticut on February 11, 2017. Other speakers were US Senator Richard Blumenthal, Loren Spears […]
Because of the many and extreme negative environmental and cultural impacts that would be caused by the new rail segment known as the “Old Saybrook to Kenyon Bypass” we ask that the Bypass be removed from the plan before the Record of Decision. Supporting the removal of the Bypass doesn’t mean we are against improving high-speed rail. The Acela is already traveling around 100 miles per hour in Charlestown. Keeping the train in its current alignment would save over a billion dollars in Charlestown alone. With a more practical vision we could get investment in rail in the right places and in the right way and we could get it a lot sooner without sacrificing Narragansett Tribal land, public parklands, protected open space, wetlands, tourism assets, active farms, historic mill villages, and private homes.
This video is from the January 25, 2017 Rally at the Rhode Island State House to Drop the “Old Saybrook to Kenyon Bypass” from the Federal Railroad Administration Tier 1 […]
Shortly before the State House Rally to protect and support our parks and hiking trails, Narragansett Tribal land, historic neighborhoods, active farms, wetlands, homes, and more, Charlestown Town Council President […]
The Federal Railroad Administration’s new rail line proposal known as the “Old Saybrook to Kenyon Bypass” would bisect The Nature Conservancy’s 1,112 acre Carter Preserve and leave half of its […]
Maps, photos, and descriptive text by Cliff Vanover. Information in this post from NEC Future Tier 1 Final EIS – Chapter 7.12 Noise and Vibration. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) […]
Going to the January 25 4:30 pm State House Rally against the Bypass and for all the wonderful things we might lose?
You can bring signs that state your objection to the Bypass, but please note that Capitol Police do not allow any handles on the placards, so they should be sturdy enough to hold up and not flex too much.
Need ideas for signs? Here are some slogans that have been proposed.
Every State Senator and State Representative that represent the towns of Washington County have signed a letter in opposition to the “Old Saybrook to Kenyon Bypass”. The letter was sent to our Congressional Delegation and Governor. They have sent a similar letter to the Federal Railroad Administration. We are most grateful to all our South County Legislators for their support in removing the “Bypass” from the FRA’s long term planning. Thank you!!
The Federal Railroad Administration claims in their Tier 1 Final EIS that from Washington DC to Boston they do not impact any tribal land. In Charlestown however, the proposed new […]
On Tuesday, January 10, after listening to testimony from many of the more than 500 citizens who had gathered to protest the proposal for construction of new rail lines through […]
We begin at the border of Richmond, heading west southwest towards NYC on the proposed bypass route. As noted in the recent post about the impact of the bypass on the village of Kenyon, at the border of Charlestown and Richmond the tracks would be carried aloft on a nearly 1/2 mile bridge roughly 25 or 30 vertical feet above the Pawcatuck River, wetlands and floodplain, and more importantly, high enough above the existing tracks to allow trains below to pass, since the existing tracks would still be used were the bypass built.
This video follows the path of a proposed new pair of train tracks through Charlestown. The existing tracks will remain for freight and slower trains. The new tracks are for […]
Since the mid 20th century, when many railroad companies went bankrupt and abandoned miles of rail beds, an effort has been underway to turn their defunct rights-of-way into parkland for bicyclers and walkers, popularly called “Rails to Trails.”
Under the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) proposal in Charlestown, the existing rail lines will not be converted to trails, they will remain to be used for rolling freight and slower trains. Charlestown would end up with four rails, the existing rail lines that run from Kenyon, through Shannock, Carolina, and Wood River Junction, and two new high speed rails running through over 2000 acres of parkland, including the 1,112 acre Francis Carter Preserve.
They express a “Don’t worry, relax” attitude, which is hardly reassuring because an examination of the proposed bypass, especially in Richmond where it begins, clearly shows the route has been carefully sited to take into account the existing topography of the land, as well as the many buildings, other structures and roads in the way of the proposed bypass. So moving this section is probably not an option. The designers and engineers have chosen the best possible route, for them, but not for those who live close by.
This is an updated map and post from our December 27 post on this subject. We’ve added farms and more permanently protected open space parcels to this map. The map […]
What these comments tell us is that the draft EIS didn’t make the impacts to South County at all clear. Now that they are clearer, would these same reviewers still have little or nothing to say about the “Old Saybrook to Kenyon Bypass”? This lack of clarity and specificity in the Draft EIS is one more reason why there ought to be an extension of the comment period on the Final EIS from January 31 to April 1, 2017.
The map above shows the approximate path of the proposed new rail lines through Charlestown Rhode Island in red. The existing rails are in black. The areas shaded in green […]
