MassDEP hearing on transit projects

Wednesday, Sept 8, 4-6 pm
DEP's Washington Street Conference Center, 2nd Floor, Rooms A, B, & C
1 Winter St, Boston (map)

On Wednesday, Sept. 8, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) will hold a public meeting to accept comments on the Annual Status Report of the Green Line Extension and other transit projects required to be completed as mitigation for the Big Dig highway project.

In that report, filed on July 9, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) announced that it does not anticipate completion of Phase I of the Green Line Extension project - to College Avenue in Medford and Union Square in Somerville - until October 2015, or 10 months after its legal deadline of Dec. 31, 2014.

In addition, because it will miss the 2014 deadline, MassDOT is required to propose an "interim offset project" to be in place on Dec. 31, 2014 that will provide air quality benefits equal to those that would have been achieved were the Green Line Extension completed on time.

MassDOT said it will announce its proposal for the offset project in January, along with a petition to delay the project.

In addition, written comments on the Annual Status Report will be accepted until 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2010. Written comments must be submitted to:

Kate Fichter
Massachusetts Department of Transportation
Office of Transportation Planning, Room 4150
Ten Park Plaza
Boston, MA 02116