I'm limited in the number of pixels that they'll let me take up here on the Blogspot, so forgive me if the map above is a little hard to read.
The map itself was provided by the Regional Task Force on Casino Impacts, and we at CasinoFacts added some town lines and color.
At CasinoFacts we know that the impacts of a mega casino will effect communities within a 35-50 mile radius, but the Task Force just wanted to limit themselves to a manageable 10 mile impact radius, otherwise known as the Circle of Doom as indicated by the orange circle. The darker orange circle indicates a five mile radius around a proposed casino at the Precinct Street location.
Notice that the entire towns of Bridgewater, Halifax and Plympton fall within the circle.
All but the very outskirts of Lakeville, Carver, Kingston, East Bridgewater and Raynham are there, too.
And someone might want to get on the horn to Berkley, West Bridgewater, Hanson, Pembroke and Plymouth from the looks of it.
But we all know that it's just a map. Think of it in terms of impacts. Like traffic. 50,000 + visitors a day, 24/7. Thousands of employees. Tour busses, tractor trailers making deliveries night and day. Garbage trucks hauling away the waste of a 'new city' more populated than the town of Plymouth down country roads. Wear and tear on our streets and highways. Trash, pollution, noise, speeders, DUIs.
Look at the already congested Rte. 3, skimming just outside the Circle. It travels through Weymouth, Duxbury, Marshfield and the entire length of Plymouth.
And speaking of Plymouth - I'd like to point out that many of the towns on this map use the roads within the Circle of Doom as an escape route in case of an emergency at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant. Just a thought.
And don't even get me started on Rte. 44.
And 'Traffic' is just one impact.
So let's hear it for the Middleboro Selectmen who appointed a seven person (not expert) impact study group and gave them six weeks to look at how a casino would impact Middleboro (not the region).
Our towns are not the equivalents of Ledyard, North Stonington, Montville or Uncasville Connecticut - communities around the Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun casinos. We have our own issues unique to this rural, yet rapidly growing section of Massachusetts.
To assume 'mitigation funds' will somehow take care of all the unforeseen problems that would result from this proposed, inappropriately located monstrosity, is simplistic and naive.
NO CASINO.
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3 comments:
If I was a Plymouth resident - I'd be very concerned. Now that Rt. 44 is a decent road, a lot of tourists and day-trippers go to Plymouth for shopping, dining, sight seeing etc. Once the casino comes in, I for one will be avoiding Rt. 44 completely. I suspect others will choose to day-trip elsewhere rather than contend with the casino congestion on Rt. 44. Same goes for Kingston or any other South Shore town that expects visitors via Rt. 44. Oh - but wait - Glenn Marshall said there would be no negative impacts.... nevermind.
Yes... I was so happy when 44 finally became an express double lane highway. I've been going down to Plymouth all the time since then, shopping at the Kingston Mall, eating at the waterfront restaurants... Casino traffic, busses, trucks, not to mention that I'd have to drive out of my way to Everett Street to get on the 'fly over' instead of sticking straight on Plymouth to 44 would make it easier for me to just go back to the malls and restaurants I had been going to. And Plymouth needs to understand that casino traffic goes to and stays at the casino. I mentioned this to the impact study group back in the summer, but they felt it wasn't worthy of note. Probably because they didn't think it would effect Middleboro. Glad to hear I'm not the only one to recognize this impact on the region.
Traffic is but one impact...but one I am concerned about. We live on Plymouth Street in Carver (the old rt 44). when the extension was opened, the traffic in front of our house literally disappeared! It became so quiet it was almost eerie...almost. We enjoy a much quieter road now and know that it will be short lived if this casino comes in. If I thought traffic was bad before the extension...I know it will be worse if the casino is built. Why sit in highway traffic when you can take side roads and shortcuts? All residents from Plymouth, Carver and Middleboro who live on Plymouth Street should be very worried...It is no fun waiting for 5 minutes just to pull out of your driveway as cars whiz past at 40+ mph.
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