A Wareham Commuter Rail station, improvements to Cranberry Highway and expansion of the regional bike path and bus transportation systems.

These were some of the priority transportation items delivered to representatives of the Southeast Regional Planning and Economic Development District by Selectmen Tuesday night.

According to one Selectman, one of those projects -- Commuter Rail -- might not be too far off.

"Hopefully within a year we will have Commuter Rail," said Selectman Alan Slavin. "If Gov. Baker was to say 'OK go do it,' it would be less than six months.

It would be done. It's that far along."

Slavin, who is part of the 13-member Metropolitan Planning Organization within SRPEDD, said he has been working with State Rep. Bill Strauss (D-Mattapoisett), chairman of the Joint Committee on Transportation, on the project.

Strauss and State Rep. Susan Williams Gifford (R-Wareham) secured $75,000 from the state last year for initial design and permit scoping for a Commuter Rail station. Last February, Gifford said property by Wareham Crossing would be the most likely area for a station.

Selectman Steve Holmes said house prices tripled in Carver when the Middleborough station was built. He said he would like to see a station built in Wareham with the capacity for overnight parking, something not offered at Middleborough.

Paul Mission and Shayne Trimbell of SRPEDD went before Selectmen to solicit input on transportation issues in the community for their regional transportation assessment.

There is a survey on the SRPEDD website for residents to share their thoughts and concerns with local transportation issues.

Selectman Patrick Tropeano said improving Cranberry Highway in East Wareham and making it safer is, and has been, a priority for him. He said the area from Home Depot to Red Brook Road is particularly dangerous.

"We've had four people killed in one week out there," he said.

Improvements to the road have been in the works for decades but the state has repeatedly pushed the project back.

Slavin spoke about problems for residents who are served by the Hawthorn Medical Group that have to travel to St. Anne's in Fall River for hospital treatments. He said because of jurisdictional issues between regional bus services, that trip is nearly impossible for residents to make by bus.

Trimbell said SRPEDD has been working on making Wareham to New Bedford bus access easier and has already begun looking at ways to expand GATRA (the Greater Attleboro regional bus system that services Wareham) routes.

Aside from Commuter Rail, the other area Holmes identified as a priority for him was continued improvement of the bike path in Wareham. He cited the work of the town's Bike Path Committee as well as efforts from Town Meeting to secure funding for the project.

"There's been a lot of advancements over the last four or five years on that project . . . I'd like to see that finished and see if there is anything we can do to help there," he said.