Eighty million dollars of public funds to save a bunch of drivers 2 minutes driving toward Boston - does this not strike a bizarre note in an era when local aid has been slashed to the bone, health care benefits are being cut off, and the MBTA can’t even afford to turn on many of the interior lights in buses?
This is the message presented on the front page of Globe West Sept. 6. The Commonwealth is spending $80 million to “improve’’ Crosby’s Corner at the Concord-Lincoln line. This expenditure seems all the more ridiculous when you consider that running substantially parallel to Route 2 is the Fitchburg Railroad, which gets one to North Station from Littleton in under an hour, and from Concord in about 45 minutes.
Here is my modest proposal to solve the Route 2 “problem’’ for a fraction of that $80 million: Increase frequencies and efficiencies on the Fitchburg Line, reconnect the line to Gardner, and maybe trim the fares a bit.
The environmentally responsible drivers will desert their single-occupancy vehicles and take the train, thereby substantially reducing the automobile volume, making for quicker travel times for those really important people who must have their cars in Boston.
John L. Worden III
Arlington 
