The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 68

.2 North THE BOSTON SUNDAY GLOBE JANUARY 4, 1998 hill sees train station as downtown Centerpiece' Haver V'" "-(" Sli 1W wWijp By Caroline Louise Cole GLOBE CORRESPONDENT if HAVERHILL A new $4 mil lion train station with a 160-ear long- ierm parking lot should do more han draw additional commuters to public transit, city officials say. 5 "Were hoping it will serve as a rrf ay I i'. I I in I 5 i 'W 5 1 4 Haverhill commuter John Lalumiere: "Those of us in the know come to Haverhill and grab the few available free spaces off Main Street." er based in Minneapolis that is in national competition with Wal-Mart and a Mart store. Demand for train service from Haverhill to Boston has been steadily rising in the past several years, Harrington said. Ridership took a 7 percent jump in September after four new l-uns were added to the line in July, she said.

A popular addition has been the 6:58 a.ni. train from Haverhill that becomes an express when it hits Andover's Ballardvale station, she said. Overall a daily average of 8,413 people used the Haverhill line in September, 570 more than in the same month of 1996, Harrington said. The Haverhill line has stops in Bradford, Lawrence, Andover, Wilmington, Reading, Wakefield, Melrose and Maiden before its terminus in North Station. "The plans call for a shelter structure and bus turnaround, which means the facility will link with the Merrimack Valley Regional Transit Authority bus routes with the rail station," Harrington said.

The new station design comes after 10 years of debate between Haverhill city officials and the MBTA over the best location for a new train facility. Haverhill's historic train station on the east side of the downtown platform was razed about 15 years ago. Initially the design called for the new shelter to stand at approximately the same place as the old station, Rurak said, but those plans were scrapped when the MBTA had difficulty acquiiing the land. Instead, the MBTA worked a deal with Tops Electronics, which gave up its electronics repair facility next to the train tracks to move to new quarters in Haverhill's Ward Hill Industrial Park. Rurak is still hoping to persuade officials to add an elevator entrance to the platform that would face east up Washington Street "The design flaw with putting the station onthe west side parcel is that the station won't have an automatic architectural link to the Washington Street shipping district," Rurak said.

"I'm hopeful we can do. something creative, but I didn't want the discussion of a second entrance to hold up the overall project." tenterpieee for the downtown and will be a reason for people from surrounding communities to check out Haverhill," said an enthusiastic Mayor James Rurak. "I expect commuters will want to try out our restaurants on their way home or do a little Shopping. Officials at the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority expect to be-gin construction this summer on the jiew facility, having recently completed the acquisition of land immediately west of the current uncovered train platform. Construction should take 18 months with the planned opening in late 1999.

For years, Rurak said, commuter traffic has caused tension among owntown merchants because train Riders take up the few available parking spaces in downtown municipal lots. The dingy train stop has no adjacent long-term parking area. I Service changes are welcome ljews to veteran commuters like John Lalumiere of Haverhill and Jack Deminie of Amesbury, who use tjhe train to get back and forth to work daily. "I use Haverhill over Bradford, where there is an MBTA-controlled lot, because by 6:30 a.m. it is filled," said Lalumiere, as he waited for the 8:43 train last Monday morning.

"Those of us in the know come to Haverhill and grab the few available free spaces off Main Street." Deminie, who doesn't own a car, takes the train to his job at Strager Counter in Revere. "A car is more convenient, but the is workable and cheaper for me," he said. i The Haverhill station improvements are part of an overall investment the state is making in public transit to encourage Boston-bound workers to leave their ears home, said officials at the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority. "With the Big Dig project under way, we're trying everything we can ij rr Office park WsJi 1-93 Commerce Way I rmmmmm" nterehange Connector Road Targetstore MBTA commuter Hjyfti ffyj rail; Logan BtaMUiMfaitfkJ Vv bus service, parking garage i W08URN VMtSHWIlV i lMHe SOURCE, Vanasee Hangen Brustlm. Inc.

II GLOBE PHOTOS GREG MIRONCHUK Commuters board train at the current Haverhill station, which needs restoration and more parking spaces. to convince people to get out of their cars and onto the public transit system," said MBTA spokesman Erin Harrington. North Weekly commuters are also expected to benefit from a new $33 million regional train station now under construction off Route 93 in Woburh. The new MetroNorth Cen-r ter will have direct access from the interstate via a new interchange be ing built between the current Route 129 exit in Reading and the Route 128 interchange. The MetroNorth Center station, also scheduled to open in the fall of 1999, will include a new terminal for the Logan Express bus service as well as a long-term parking garage; Located nearby will be an office park and New England's first Target Store, a discount chain retail GLOBE STAFF MAP.

Opinion If Yea Like The iflnwhTffiumi A little time on her hands You Live Way K'cav; i i'i Like Eldgeood For years I never wore a watch. I didn't like the idea of being strapped to time. I resisted having leather lashed to my wrist. I bucked the constant ticking and the indent of the buckle. I wanted to be more of a maverick, to live without even the simplest constraints such as a timepiece on my arm.

I have a friend who felt the same way. We prided ourselves on getting to our appointments punctually without ever wealing a watch. Which is not to say we didn't rely on clocks. We did, constantly. We both had a working clock in our cars and we each knew the locations of public clock faces all over the North Shore, from the tower at Abbott Hall in Marblehead to the timepiece on the former Phillips Lighting building on the Lynnway to the church clocks in downtown Beverly to the Eastern Bank clock in downtown Salem.

And if we weren't in our cars or near a clock, we could always lean over someone's shoulder and peer at their wrist, or ask someone to look at their watch for us. We didn't need to wear our own. And we got around, on time, pretty well. Besides and this is probably most important -1 was young then, and time meant nothing at all to me. What I mean to say is time was trivial.

It was as plentiful, cheap and common as water. When I graduated from high school in 1972, time was a big pool to swim in. It was something to skinny-dip in, as we did with abandon at our first high school reunion two decades ago. But that was a long time ago. I recently went to my 25th high school reunion.

I chose basic black to wear, a simple cut dress that accented whatever was left of my best features and hid all the rest. I wore moisturizer and makeup, and I also wore a watch. A friend who went to her 25th Salem High School reunion said, "There is something very comforting now about going into a room full of people and having everyone be the same exact age." It's not just that we are all on the same page, we are" all on the same clock. We all came of age together and are now coming of1 aging together. We watch our children grow up, our par-'-ents grow older and we are somewhere sandwiched in'' betw-een.

The generation that never trusted anyone over 1 30 has had to confront 40, and 50 looms ahead. Time is no longer irrelevant. It seems to be all that really matters. I take succor in the measurements of time in my life? I have been a writer for nearly 18 years, a wife for more than 16 years, a homeowner for 15 years, a parent for lS years. I have been a sister for 41 years and to my recollection, a friend for 38.

My parents are selling the onhf home they-every owned. They spent 43 years under its roof, replacing its shingles twice. It was the only home 1' knewT before I struck out on my owm This year's calendar is an open page right now. Time'' unspent. Pristine seconds yet to tick by.

We are rich indeed to have the luxury of a commodity as common and invaluable as time. We do not know what this new' year will bring, nor what, or who, it will take. We only0 know it will pass by. Moment by moment. I now wear a watch all the time.

I am only too aware' of its constant ticking and its steady movement. I used to take my watch off at night when I went to bed, to sleep in timelessness. Now my watch is worn into the twilight-of my dreams. It is there 24 houi-s, seven days a weeki'-' The last watch I bought was a Swiss Army model I now''J wear in the shower. Or swimming in the pool.

I rely ori'! the fact that my Victorinox watch is waterproof down to 166 feet. I have long been too old, too mature to skinny dip. Instead, I swim occasionally to exercise, to stay fit in'1 water that is as common as time. Anne Driacoll in a ngalur contributor to North WeeklyA Her e-mail address is: driscolIglobe.com. '0 You make your mm decisions.

You come and go as you please. And you're determined to make the most of retirement. Of course, you'll also appreciate the beauty and familiarity of our location in charaiing North Andover. Now that we're open, it's an excellent time to find out more about this exceptional retirement lifestyle. Please call (978)725-3300 for more information.

And discover how Edgewood not only preserves your retirement lifestyle but also enhances it. NorthWeekly, None of that has to chaige with a move to Eclgewood retirement community. In fact, you'll continue to enjoy the comfort and independence of your own private residence. What will change, however, is your peace of mind when it comes to the future. From a financial standpoint, you can get 90 of your entrance fee returned to you or your estate.

And our professionally staffed, on-site Health Center assures you of unlimited skilled nursing care, if you need it, with no additional room charge. ManagllWe(reSm0'n'iim- The Harm's lewie, rawer -ft. mmis. Che Boston (Dlobc 495 Broadway Lynnfield, 01940 Call us with your news items, tips or event listings: or on the Internet, noweekglobe.com Edgew: 617-586-1700 575 Osgood Street North Andover, MA 0 1 845 (978) Entrance fees start at $157,000 with LzJ Bureau Chief: Andrew Blake Jr. Staff Reporters Bub Monahan (S)xm 617-586-1752 Mac Daniel 617-586-1751 Staff Photographer: Jim Wilson Community Bulletin Board: Diane O'Connell 617-586-1700 Calendar Listings: Mail, attention: Sharon Cantun Advertising: 617-586-1703 Fax: 617-586-1754 90 refundable.

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