MBTA Adding Long-Awaited Wheelchair Accessibility to Norwood Central-August 24, 1989

Commuter rail travel in Norwood is set to become fully accessible, as the MBTA officially signed a $1.4 million contract yesterday to overhaul the Norwood Central commuter rail station. Construction on the comprehensive accessibility and station improvement project is scheduled to begin within a month, bringing an end to years of persistent advocacy by local disability rights champions.

“This is a hard-fought victory for handicapped people in the Norwood area,” said State Representative Gregory Sullivan (D-Norwood) following the contract signing. Sullivan and State Senator William Keating (D-Sharon) successfully pressured the transit agency to accelerate the timeline, bringing the project forward 18 months ahead of schedule. Keating noted that securing the funding amidst the commonwealth’s precarious financial climate was a fortunate milestone: “We’re pleased to see this now because we don’t know what the future’s going to be.”

Comprehensive Station Overhaul and Parking Expansion

The extensive renovation plans encompass a complete modernization of the facility, including platform lengthening, updated lighting, new paving and improved drainage, bicycle racks, interior building renovations, and a specialized mini-platform designed to assist passengers using wheelchairs in boarding trains. Additionally, parking infrastructure will see a major boost with the addition of 97 new parking spaces, alongside the complete repaving of the existing 267 spaces. Contractors D.F. Frangioso Co. and D & R Equipment Co. will execute the project, which is expected to be completed by the following summer without interrupting daily commuter service. Once finished, Norwood Central will stand out as the only accessible stop along the MBTA Franklin line.

Robert Haskell’s Courageous Advocacy

The triumph belongs largely to Robert Haskell, chairman of the town’s handicapped commission, who fought for six years to secure the station renovations after plans had been postponed twice. While welcoming the news, Haskell remained cautiously pragmatic: “It feels pretty good, but I don’t really want to comment until we see the construction trucks out there.”

Haskell’s tireless campaign drew dramatic statewide attention in April during a public protest highlighting the station’s dangerous inaccessibility. Demonstrating the physical barrier firsthand, Haskell—who has used a wheelchair since childhood—wriggled out of his chair and pulled himself up the cold metal steps of a train on his backside to board. The grueling demonstration resulted in a hospitalized injury when doctors discovered the stunt had ruptured an ulcer on his backside. Praising his tenacity, Representative Sullivan remarked, “One courageous man led the fight by getting out of his wheelchair and going up and down stairs of the train on his backside. It’s absurd to have this beautiful public system that is off-limits to the handicapped.”

In related transit developments announced the same day, the MBTA agreed to postpone constructing permanent wheelchair ramps at the newly built $2.5 million South Attleboro station, which has remained closed pending an ongoing lawsuit between the transit agency and the state Architectural Access Board regarding ramp specifications. (Reporting by Lyndsey Layton, The Patriot Ledger).

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger