“Interest high in T line extension”
For a project that won’t be up and running for at least another eight years, the proposed extension of the MBTA’s Green Line from Lechmere can sure draw a crowd.
More than 200 residents of Somerville and Medford turned out for a meeting on Monday that signified the launch of an environmental review of the undertaking, which would extend trolley service to the Medford hillside.
More quotes from the article…
Many who attended the session, hosted by the state’s Environmental Policy Act Office, suggested what they thought should be included in the review, including examining the prospect of the line’s extension beyond its proposed terminus to Route 16. Others expressed concern that the state do more to reach out to Medford residents, some of whom are resisting the project.
But others at the meeting just seemed relieved the state is moving forward with the $550 million Green Line extension, which studies have said would eliminate nearly 10,000 daily vehicle trips in Somerville and Medford.
“We’ve been fighting for this for a long time,” said Ellin Reisner, an East Somerville resident.
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Officials outlined a timeline that delays the project’s completion until 2014, despite objections last year from Somerville’s mayor and local legislators. Under the schedule, construction is to begin in 2011, the year officials originally said the project would be completed.
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The latest plan for the extension calls for at least five stops, and possibly a sixth, along the Lowell line, and for a spur to be built along the Fitchburg line to Union Square, where the city is planning a massive makeover centered around mass transit.
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Since the project is expected to affect 54 acres of land along its route, an environmental impact report must be completed.
The Environmental Policy Act Office took comments at Monday’s meeting about the scope of the report and is accepting written comments through Nov. 9.
After the agency makes its determination, the Executive Office of Transportation will draft the report, a process that officials estimated would cost roughly $2.5 million.