Open Letter to the BIA

March 17, 2008

Franklin Keel, Regional Director
Eastern Regional Office
Bureau of Indian Affairs
545 Marriott Drive, Suite 700
Nashville, TN 37214

RE: Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Tribe Land-in-Trust for Initial Reservation in Middleboro, MA. Local traffic impacts expected from the Mashpee Wampanoag land-in-trust application - route 44

CC: Secretary of the Interior, Dirk Kempthorne; Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs, Carl Artman


Dear Director Keel,

I am writing to you to in regards to the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Land-in-Trust for Initail reservation in Middleboro, Massachusetts. The Tribe is seeking this land as an initial reservation specifically for the purposes of gambling. To date, the host community as well as the surrounding communities have not seen preliminary plans or conceptual designs for the proposed facility. It is for this reason I am asking for another hearing be scheduled to address any potential impacts directly related to the proposed casino project as outlined in the Federal Register dated March 6, 2008.

From what was described in the Federal Register notice, there are several potential environmental impacts expected from the proposed project outlined in the land-in-trust application. One of these impacts is the expected increase in traffic volume on route 44.

US 44 runs for 39 miles in Massachusetts. It enters the state in the town of Seekonk through to the city of Taunton passing through the towns of Rehoboth and Dighton along the way. It continues eastward from Taunton through the towns of Raynham, Lakeville, Middleborough, Carver, Plympton, and Kingston before ending in Plymouth. US 44 has interchanges with Route 24 in Raynham and with Interstate 495 in Middleborough. East of the Middleborough Rotary, US 44 cuts through the Northern section of Middleboro and passes by the historically significant Oliver Mill Park, site of Judge Peter Oliver’s 18th-century industrial complex whose ancient stone-walled waterways still remain on the banks of the Nemasket River. This section of route 44 is a two lane arterial highway for five miles until just past the intersection with Route 105, where it becomes a two-lane freeway with a guard rail acting as a median divider for three miles until just before the intersection with Route 58. East of route 58 in Carver, it becomes a newly-built, 7.5-mile long 4 lane freeway section connecting to Route 3. This newly built highway replaces the old route 44, a residental street. The new highway allows for route 44 traffic to bypass the Lakenham Historic District in Carver and the congested business district in Plymouth. The old section of US 44 (Plymouth Street) which starts at route 58 in Carver and continues through Plymouth to route 3 was a heavily traveled road for local and tourist traffic before the extention was built. This outdated section of route 44 first appeared on some maps starting in 2005 as Route 44A; however, Route 44A signs have not been put up after the bypass was built, and the route has not appeared in the official route log of the Massachusetts Highway Department.

The Middleboro Casino Impact report estimates an additional 20,000 – 40,000 cars will travel to the proposed Middelboro casino site as outlined to the Town by the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe. There could be significant direct impacts to traffic patterns of these eleven communites that share US route 44 in Southeast Massachusetts with the estimated new traffic, as well as a potential for direct, life threatening impacts to all of the southeast communities, including Cape Cod.

There is cause for concern regarding the section of route 44 east of route 105 in Middleboro and west of route 58 in Carver. According to the intergovernmental agreement, road improvements outlined for route 44 only address the section of road from route 495 to route 105. As noted above, route 44 east of route 105 is a two lane highway with a guard rail acting as a divider. Large sections of this stretch of road also have guardrails on the shoulder, creating a potential bottleneck situation for east/west travel in the event of an accident. In the event of an accident, traffic would need to be diverted to heavily populated residential secondary roads. Also, increased volume of traffic resulting from a casino resort could easily cause backup at the lane drop at route 58 heading westbound from route 3. No impact analysis or traffic study has been done to date to address potential traffic increase coming from route 3 which is already a heavily traveled road.

The new section of route 44 was originally forecast to carry 15,000 vehicles per day (AADT) by 2015, but new existing commercial development has already pushed this estimate up to 37,500 vehicles per day by 2015. According to the Massachusetts Highway Department, the new four lane extension already sees 17,000 vehicles on average per day. The two lane, guardrail divided section of the highway between route 58 in Carver and route 105 in Middleboro has an average daily traffic volume of 17,600 vechiles. An increase of 20,000 – 40,000 vehicles per day going to and from the proposed facility has the potential to bring the volume of daily traffic on this road to 57,000 vehicles within 2 years…this is an immediate increase of 19,500 vehicles over the projected 37,500 vehicles traveling the road in 2015. The estimated 20,000 – 40,000 additional vehicles per day traveling to the proposed casino site will immediately double the amount of traffic the road handles to date.

Traffic delays on this section of the road due to volume or an accident will result in traffic spill over onto secondary roads, especially onto route 44A (Plymouth Street) which goes through heavily populated residential and historical areas of Middleboro, Carver and Plymouth.

Traffic overflow onto heavily populated, residental secondary roads will also threaten the health and safety of those residents and children living on those roads. These secondary roads are primary routes of travel for school buses, local emergency responders such as fire and police, and residents running errands throughout the area. Traffic overflow due to the proposed casino will emit tons of noxious greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, lowering our air quality. Traffic overflow has the potential to cause congestion and delays for school buses and emergency response personnel. Traffic increases from patrons leaving the proposed casino establishment will result in higher incidents of drunk driving and accidents which pose a direct threat to the health and safety of area residents. There are several school bus stops along residental roads and increased traffic threatens the safety of these children due to drunk driving, speeding and motor vehicle accidents.

Route 44 is also the emergency evacuation route for surrounding area residents if ever there is a catastrophic event at the Plymouth Nuclear Power Plant. It also serves as an Emergency Evacuation Route for Cape Cod residents and tourists in the event of a hurricane or other natural or man-made disaster. Large traffic volume increases due to a casino resort has the potential to clog emergency escape routes, and thus endangering the lives of thousands of south coast residents, as well as area tourists.

In addition, large increases in traffic volume on secondary roads will increase litter and exhaust noise while decreasing air quality. Storm-water runoff pollution from roadway runoff will increase and threaten the qualilty of the water that is relied upon by thousands of residents who own private wells.

The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe wishes to have the land in Middleboro placed into trust for the sole purpose of building a resort casino. This development will directly impact area towns and residents and lower the quality of life we currently work hard to preserve and currently enjoy. I do not believe any mitigation effort would be sucessful, or could be afforded by this State or it’s residents to eliminate this very serious and direct threat to our health, safety and environment.

Respectfully Submitted,


Kim Shea
Carver, MA