Green Line

The following is a letter from Carrie Russell and Noah Chesnin of CLF…
We will pass up a major opportunity for cleaner air and regular transit service in neighborhoods in Medford, Somerville and Arlington if state officials don’t extend the Green Line to Route 16 in Medford Hillside. When the state makes a final decision on a Green Line terminus station, it should uphold the promise made to residents of these cities to reduce air pollution and extend public transportation by building the terminus station at Route 16 instead of stopping short at College Avenue.

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Keep reading for meeting notes from yesterday’s meeting, kindly provided by Ken Krause. Topics of this meeting included traffic analysis, air quality, noise and vibration, environmental justice, disability access, and construction staging.

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Some have wondered if tunnels might be a better option for part of the Green Line extension, and now the State has released its analysis of some tunneling options. Not surprisingly, it concludes that the additional cost isn't worth it. Read the study (PDF).

Yesterday, the city of Somerville conducted a workshop session at Build Boston, the Boston Society of Architects' annual convention and trade show. The workshop detailed the city's extensive efforts to try to maximize the benefits to be derived from the extension of MBTA Green Line service to Somerville. Somerville has been actively studying the possible implications of the Green Line from…

Come hear the latest updates and join the discussion at this joint STEP/MGNA community meeting. It's Monday night at 7pm at Tufts. Read more about it.

If you couldn't attend the Nov 12 meeting, you can watch it on SCAT this Sunday, Nov 23, at 8:00 pm. Highlights from the meeting: - The State has spent recent months studying options for the Green Line support facility, and still recommends the Yard 8 location. - The State provided ridership projections. - Two Union Square alignments remain in the…

The State has released conceptual drawings showing what things might look like with this option. Lechmere is at the very top, with McGrath winding down the right side of the photo and Washington St at the very bottom. (View two larger drawings here and here.)

Somerville News: "State won't budge on maintenance facility at Inner Belt" "Unless there is a great deal of equity interjected into the...disproportionate use of Somerville for maintenance and storage and other uses that don't produce revenue for the city...how can you expect anyone to support this plan?" asked State Rep. Denise Provost.

The report presents the analysis that was utilized to determine the state's preferred site for locating a support facility for the Green Line extensions. It includes details about the project's requirements and a breakdown of how the State's consultant VHB evaluated the alternative sites, and ultimately recommends exactly the same option the State initially favored: Yard 8. (See STEP's interactive map.)…

Somerville News: "City silenced: No public process on Green Line, activist says" "The public process has been ridiculous," said Ellin Reisner, who sits on an advisory council set up by the Commonwealth's Executive Office of Transportation and is president of STEP. "There has been no public process so far."