The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 134

KNEELAND CONSXRUCTION CORPORATION The number of people needing to come from the east to the west is going to increase. The west is the Kathleen Barry Bartolini, Framingham director of planning and economic development MOVE UP WITH CUSTOM STYLED 5 YEAR GUARANTEE FREE ESTIMATE MA Reg 11 3869 Three MBTA stations set to open ft I A. J. Ragosta is looking forward to reverse commuting from his home in Dorchester to EMC in Hopkinton. We willihave a complete selection of PJSnts and' Flowers Azaleas, Flats, Vegetable Flats, New Varietie)lcceiit Plants Perennials, lulchand M6re.

Weekly Specials June j8tU-June 23rd FRESH CRISP CjJBAN; RED LEA GREEN LE4F AM) EOMAEVE LETTUCE 89 Hd. LARGE SWEET JUlCY 'CALIFORNIA NECTAWNEfe-fL 984 lb. PREMIUM QUALITY FRESH NEW JERSEY BLUEBERWEf pint SWEET EXTFANCY "TM RED AND GREEN SEEDLESS iGRAPES $1.49 lb. DORMERS ADDITIONS, SECOND LEVELS AND HOME BUILDING wmmwtm i I 'tin FRESH EXTRA FANCT4 'VX 594 lb. EXTRA FANQX HtestfCWSPk CUCUMBER iVi 4 for $1.00 560 Pleasant Street Watertown 617-923-1502 Store Hours: Monday-Saturday 8am-6pm, Sunday 8am-2pm Check out our website www.arusso.com i GLOBE STAFF PHOTODAVID KAMERMAN ough to set up a shuttle.

Mayor William J. Mauro, who wants to expand and integrate the region's piecemeal public transportation system, had hoped to hire a shuttle company by next Saturday. But A. Theodore Welte, president of the MetroWest Chamber of Commerce and another proponent of improved public transportation, said there is not enough time to solicit bids. He and Brooks have been frantically negotiating with big local employers to provide temporary shuttle buses but have had no luck so far.

Meanwhile, Bartolini, the head of planning and economic development in Framingham, is working to arrange for the popular Framingham LIFT bus to carry passengers between Hopkinton, home of the data-storage company EMC, and the Southborough station. Bus service is crucial to make sure that reverse commuters are not stranded at the stations and to give Boston-bound commuters an alternative to leaving their cars at the stations. The MBTA has provided 360 parking spaces at Southborough, 318 at Westborough, and 670 at Ashland. "Everybody is convinced all three stations' parking lots will be filled" as soon as they open, Welte says. If eastbound motorists cant park, he said, many will quickly give up on the train.

As a result, the MetroWest495 association and the city of Marlborough are also trying to set up two satellite parking lots in Southborough and Marlborough on the planned shuttle bus lines. The locations of the planned lots have yet to be decided. Even if they can find parking, some local residents who drive to work in Boston say the new MBTA schedule will not meet their needs. Kim Costello, who lives about 100 yards from the Southborough station, said she would like to take the train to her job as a surgical intensive care unit nurse at Boston Medical Center in the South End. But the earliest train on the new schedule arrives at South Station at 7:21 a.m., more than 20 minutes after her workday begins.

"It's too late," said Costello. "It's very disappointing because I feel there would be a market for ta IT commuters going into Boston ear lier. The Mass. Pike is congested at 6 a.m." Employers in the suburbs say the schedule is fine for Boston bound commuters but inadequate for reverse commuters. Ann Hurd, a spokeswoman ftjr Intel, which manufactures com puter chips in Hudson, said many Intel employees work a shift ofoT a.m.

to 7 p.m. Even if they can afe range a ride from the new South borough station to work, she saif4 the earliest westbound train arf rives at 7:34 a.m. "That would be useless," said Hurd. To be sure, some reverse coatf-muters say even one mornirig rush-hour train is better thaa nothing. A.

J. Ragosta, a prodiM marketing manager for EMC whs currently drives from his home in Dorchester, plans to pick up tt train at South Station at 6:50 a.ifit He looks forward to working qo his laptop computer while riding theT. But Seth Kaplan, a senior attor ney for the Conservation Law Foundation, an environmental adi-vocacy group that promotes pubHt transportation, hopes the MBIA provides more service. "Should you be providing Mf verse commutes for suburbia businesses? Yes," he said. "Should you be providing night service in both directions? Yes.

Can you pnc vide them all on the first daysrf service? Probably not" Pesaturo, of the MBTA, saidtt study last year by the Central Transportation Planning Staff found there were not enough rp verse commuters to justify more than one morning rush-hoot train. (The MBTA has scheduled second westbound train that ate-rives in Southborough at a.m.) The authority estimates that by 2006, some 250 passengers wiU board the train in Westborough an an average weekday, 513 in Soutn borough, and 973 in Ashland. Vi tually all of them will be heading toward Boston, Pesaturo said, ddo Even if the MBTA has underejf timated the enthusiasm of reverat commuters, he said, it would be hard to arrange more traiaa around the schedules of freight trains. (ju "If a new study is conductad and the results are entirely differ ent, then it's likely that we would revisit the issue," he said. "We can only go with the data we have." tol While it remains to be seen how popular the train service be! comes in both directions, AUstf void, the research analyst wob lives in Southborough, is delighted that he will finally be able Ho stop near his house.

He looks fart ward to spending more time with his wife, Christine, and two chib dren, Mitchell, 4, and Grace, 19 months. In fact, he expects th4f will be at the station when he gets off the 5:43 each evening. "I'm sure Mitchell will wait for me," Austvold said. "My sonls a train fanatic. COMMUTER RAIL Continued fmm Page 1 In fact, detractors say, many of the jobs have moved to the suburbs.

"I agree with the MBTA that the vast majority of the ridership is going to be coming from the west to the east," said Kathleen Barry Bartolini, Framingham's di rector of planning and economic development and a longtime advocate of improved mass transit in the western suburbs. "But the number of people needing to come from the east to the west is going to increase. Look at the number of jobs being created along the 495 corridor. The west is the future." Joe Pesaturo, an MBTA spokes man, countered that a study last year showed that fewer than 1.5 percent of employees in the region commute, from Boston, far too few to justify the "exorbitant cost" of adding westbound trains. "At this point, there are no im mediate plans for more trains going in the opposite direction," he said.

"We have to be careful where we put our resources. The goal is to put them where they serve the most people." It has been 42 years since passenger trains stopped in Westbor-ough, Southborough, and Ash land. Talk of resuming rail service gained momentum in the 1990s as a result of the building boom west of Boston. Communities in the I-495 belt experienced double-digit population growth in the past decade, including Hopkinton (45 percent), Southborough (32 percent), Westborough (27 percent), and Ashland (21 percent), according to the US Census. At the same time, the number of jobs in the region skyrocketed from 87,414 in 1990 to 102,742 in 2000, according to a study by the MetroWest Economic Research Center at Framingham State College.

The center counted jobs in nine cities and towns that make up the chamber. The boom has resulted in teeth-gnashing traffic jams on freeways and smaller feeder roads. Consider that in 1991 some 51,000 cars passed the Milford-Hopkinton town line on Interstate 495 in both directions on an average day, according to the Massachusetts Highway Department. By 2000, the number had risen to more than 76,000. On the Mass.

Pike, some 60,000 westbound and eastbound cars passed through Hopkinton east of Interstate 495 in 1991 on an average day, according to the Highway Department. The number climbed to 85,000 in 2000. "There's been a big change in the last 10 years in terms of traffic congestion and the length of time it takes for people to get from one place to another," said Michele Brooks, outreach and development director for the MetroWest495 Transportation Management Association, which is affiliated with the region's chamber of commerce. "People are also doing a lot of suburb-to- Duck feathers for Children I 41 "tn Iff. i 1 i 1 1 ill in no s- oles, 't rolls suburb commuting, and that affects local roadways." While champions of public transportation eagerly hope the rail expansion helps break the gridlock, entrepreneurs sense business opportunities.

Robert Gayner, a New Hampshire developer, for example, hopes the Ashland station jump-starts his proposal to build 500 luxury apartments and 190 condominiums for older people in a newly zoned "rail transit district" on abutting land. He expects many of the residents will take the train to jobs in Boston. But before the MBTA project has any ripple effect, it has to be completed and that has been delayed again and again. First, there was a clash over handicapped access. Disabled people and their advocates were holding out for high platforms to get on and off trains.

The MBTA countered that it was impossible because freight trains that use the tracks are too wide. In the end, both sides compromised on "mini-high" platforms that permit level access for two of the cars, but not the entire train. Other delays occurred because CSX Transportation, not the MBTA, owns the 15 miles of tracks between Framingham and Grafton, and work had to be coordinated with the freight company. In addition, local officials tussled with the MBTA over the quality of its work, including on new sidewalks by the stations. Now that the stations are about to open, local politicians and business leaders are scrambling to put other pieces into place.

One of the biggest challenges is establishing shuttle-bus service to carry Boston-bound commuters to the Southborough train station and to bring reverse commuters to office parks on Route 9 in West-borough and 1-495 in Marlborough. Unlike the old train depots that used to serve the three towns, the new stations platforms with yellow safety stripes are not within walking distance of population centers; instead, the MBTA picked areas where it could build hundreds of parking spaces. The state recently approved funneling $160,000 to Marlbor fine feathers for Women New $tore fine feathers 10 North Street Medfield Medfield 10 North St. Mon. closed 10-5, Sat.

10-3 508-359-8884 roller retractable awnings for patio or storefront i easy pitch adjustment 150 colors two week delivery credit cards accepted IN NEW HAMPSHIRE CALL Rollout Awnings at 603625-4440 Laser hair removal for men women Jay A. Goldstein, M.D. rncE nidi iiuiuc Financing Seminar! Dreaming of home ownership, but don't know where to begin? We can help you take the first step. Botox Microdermabrasion Laser treatment of wrinkles, spider veins and psoriasis Complete aesthetic services Medical grade skin care products FREE consultation at our state-of-the-art facility lA.m.n'rtn rtitr, is here Our First Home1 Financing Seminafs, led by top mortgage designed to answer all your questions about the first-time home -buying process. You'll learn all the basics in a relaxed, friendly atmosphere, induding: What to expert as a first-time homebuyer How much home you can afford Which loan program is right for you How to reach your goal of home ownership Plus, youll receive a complimentary Homebuyer Handbook to make your purchase and move trouble-free.

n. fl i 3iq sale WSfWl Buy One Get the Second item at 50 off Now through the end of June. Higher price prevails. "Excludes Fresh Produce, New Arrivals, Accessories and Gift Items. "Duck Bills Do Not Apply Call 1-800-797-6001 to reserve a seat at the seminar nearest you! Faculty Appointment: Boston University School of Medicine Board Certified Dermatologist Dr.

Goldstein has over 4 years of extensive experience with laser hair removal procedures. 67 Union Street Natici MA 0 1 760 (508) 655-0525 (78!) 237-8540 Medway 74 Main St. Fri. 10h5 Thurs 10-7 Sat. 10-5 508-533-9290 Dreaming Is The First Stage.

ImfctCllMsfiivltwIltarwl-! Wells Fargo. The Next Stage. iWJI 8W1.