Not Writing About the Train

Trying to be positive (and non-controversial) is getting more and more difficult. With news that the Army Corps of Engineers approved the politically motivated and scandalously expensive train through Easton our town is about to change dramatically and forever for the worse. Nice to see the Army Corps can do for little towns like Easton what their flood control plans did for New Orleans. The 2,500 page draft environmental report CD arrived in the mail yesterday, and we have until May to comment. It's so hard to justify this boondoogle on any rational basis (other than using passenger rail as a Trojan horse for freight and trash trains) that I can't yet jump on the mitigation bandwagon, but I promise not to write about it again. Starting to think about moving out of town though, but I'd miss the potholes.

By the way, because of our soil, Easton has always had problems with its roads. We were fined constantly by the state in the 18th century for not keeping Bay Road up to snuff and Turnpike Street disappeared into the Hockomock Swamp several times before it was finally pushed through to Raynham. I think the Highway Department should be commended for their seemingly around the clock efforts to fix potholes even as the normal winter clean-up is underway.

Happier stories to come.