Gov. Patrick announces Community Path grant

Somerville Journal: "Somerville's bike path plans pedal forward with Governor Patrick's visit, $490,000 grant announcement"
"Gov. Deval Patrick announced a $490,000 grant to construct a bike path alongside the 199-unit [MaxPak] residential development. The grant money will extend the Community Path from its terminus at Cedar Street to Lowell Street, where it will link up with a planned Green Line station."

What's next for the Green Line

Now that the Preliminary Engineering phase has begun, here's what will happen in the coming months:

• September: Educational workshops on the elements of station design (elevators, accessibility, etc.)
  
• October: Public meetings on the Community Path and maintenance facility
  
• November: Station design workshops on each station
  
• Spring 2011: Workshops for MassDOT to present updated station designs, plus more meetings on the Community Path and maintenance facility
  

First meeting of Green Line Design Working Group

Here's the video of the August 9 meeting. This group "will advise MassDOT on the design of six new stations proposed for the neighborhoods of Brickbottom, Gilman Square, Lowell Street, Ball Square, College Avenue, and Union Square, as well as the relocation of Lechmere Station. Working group members will review and advise on design plans, gather and share local input, and help to plan public design events. The GLX Design Working Group will be a fundamental component of the project's public outreach during the Preliminary Engineering phase."

Somerville Journal: Community concerns with Green Line details

"Somerville residents sound off about Green Line extension"
Criticisms in the public comment letters released last Friday range from the common complaints that the trolley won't extend to Route 16 and the state won't fund construction of a bike path, to less common ones, such as the narrowness of sidewalks around the proposed College Avenue station in Medford.

Boston Globe on FEIR approval

"Green Line extension impact report approved"

Green Line FEIR letters

Thanks to all who wrote letters to MassDOT about the FEIR. The State received over 400 letters! View all letters or download some notable letters here:
State Rep. Carl Sciortino
State Rep. Denise Provost
Friends of the Community Path
Somerville Chamber of Commerce
Conservation Law Foundation
Sierra Club (Mass. chapter)
Ellin Reisner, President, STEP
Wig Zamore, STEP
Ken Krause, MGNA

Green Line preliminary engineering and design contract: $24.5 million

Boston Globe: $1b extension passes key milestone"
At the Aug. 11 meeting of MassDOT's board of directors, Mullan and the project team will seek approval for a $24.5 million contract to cover the preliminary engineering and design of the route, stations, and a related maintenance facility. That preliminary work will allow the state to seek one bid for combined design-build, meaning a single design and construction team will eventually bid on the whole project, instead of the potentially longer and costlier process of bidding and completing design, then bidding and completing construction.

Green Line FEIR accepted, Preliminary Engineering phase begins

The Secretary of Energy & Environmental Affairs has accepted the Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) and issued a Certificate to guide the next phases of the project. This means that the Preliminary Engineering phase can now officially begin, where work will continue on station designs with community involvement.

Download the certificate (PDF). Here are some highlights from the Certificate:

• "MassDOT should use the comments received on the FEIR to further inform the project's preliminary and final design process, provide additional refinement to the Public Involvement Process."
• The Secretary can't require MassDOT to construct the Community Path as part of the Green Line construction, but "I expect that MassDOT will continue its efforts to support the project as much as possible....I strongly encourage MassDOT to continue to work with the City of Somerville and advocates or the Community Path to identify sufficient funding for the ultimate construction of the Path."
• "As design of the Maintenance Facility advances, MassDOT should consider the concerns and suggestions presented in the FEIR comment letters including striving to further reduce the facility's footprint to limit land takings."
• MassDOT should work with the community to mitigate any negative impacts of College Ave being the Green Line terminus for Phase 1.
• "I ask that MassDOT continue to work closely with interested parties as design advances about specific mitigation measures" (e.g., noise and vibration).
• Because the State will miss the legal deadline for the Green Line completion, MassDOT will submit a proposal for an interim offset project.

STEP at ArtBeat

Thanks to everyone who stopped by to visit us at ArtBeat! Click for more photos.

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