Good news about the Green Line! Governor Deval Patrick today signed the $3.5 billion transportation bond bill to invest in road and bridge projects across the Commonwealth, including $700 million for State Improvement Plan commitments to increase transit access across eastern Massachusetts on three projects, including the Green Line extension to Somerville and Medford. This is a critical step forward for the Green Line extensions. It authorizes specific funding for the project and also should allow Federal approval (FHWA, FTA, EPA) of the State Transportation Improvement Program and EPA approval of the revised State Implementation Plan, with the two Green Line branches embedded.
The list of thank yous for this progress is long indeed – the terrific work of the state delegation, city government, our Congressman, the state transportation agencies, hard-working friends at MAPC, CLF, the MPO, and elsewhere. It is a very long list indeed and really has as its foundation all of those small groups and countless individuals who took time to advocate every single time it was important.
“Our residents and businesses have waited far too long for this,” Mayor Curtatone said in a written statement. “This is a landmark step.”
Somerville Journal: “Gov. OKs funding for Green Line Extension”
