ITEM PHOTO BY OWEN O’ROURKE
Workers tear up the abandoned rail road tracks on Cottage Street in Lynn.
BY THOR JOURGENSEN
LYNN — The clang and crash of traffic crossing railroad tracks in four West Lynn intersections is about to end.
Transportation contractor Keolis Commuter Services and the Department of Public Works crews ripped up tracks bisecting Cottage Street on Monday. Tracks cutting across Spencer Street are scheduled to be pulled up today.
The tracks are part of a freight rail line that ran from Boston through Everett and Saugus to Lynn. They have not been used for decades, according to City Councilors Peter Capano and Jay Walsh.
“They are one of the biggest complaints we get even from people who don’t live in the area,” Capano said.
The sound of heavy trucks crashing over tracks spanning Summer Street near South Street has long annoyed 17-year neighborhood resident Ana Molina.
“When big trucks come by, they move the building,” she said.
Public Works Commissioner Andrew Hall said rails crossing Summer Street are scheduled to be ripped up on Wednesday and tracks crossing Summer near Raddin Grove Avenue will be pulled up on Thursday.
Walsh said the track removal work started in the winter when Keolis crews removed a section of track crossing Cottage Street that dislodged, posing a threat to motorists.
“It scared everybody,” Walsh said. “Keolis came right out and we talked about removing the other tracks.”
Hall said tracks crossing West Lynn road intersections have been the targets of driver damage complaints and have damaged snowplows.
Longer-term plans for the old rail line winding through West Lynn include converting it to a bicycle path with a connection to the waterfront. Residents living on side streets abutting the tracks have organized trash cleanups and worked with the city keep the track corridor crime free.
Capano and Walsh have met with bike path proponents and they envision the rail line eventually becoming a “community path” with neighbors having a say in how the path is designed and used.
Thor Jourgensen can be reached at tjourgensen@itemlive.com