"Gas-tax timidity" "The 21-cent gasoline excise tax has not been increased since 1991, and inflation has cut its value by a third. It remains the tax of choice for transportation improvements because it targets users of a product that the state would like to see conserved, to limit wear on the roads, improve the environment, and reduce dependence on foreign producers."
The Medford Green Line Neighborhood Alliance has published its proposal for Green Line stops in Medford along the Lowell line, with one stop located north of College Ave and the terminus located south of the Mystic River near Route 16. The plan also recommends a system optimized for pedestrians, bicyclists, and passengers of existing buses – with no parking garages.
As printed in the Somerville Journal…
In short, we are back on track. There will be an important public meeting next Monday, Oct. 16, at 6 p.m. in the Somerville High School auditorium at 93 Highland Ave.
At this meeting, the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act office will collect comments to be used in helping them determine what should be in the Single Environmental Impact Report for the Green Line extensions that will be prepared over the next two years. The SEIR will become the full and official description of this long-awaited transit project. Simply put, Monday’s MEPA “Scoping Session” will determine what is studied and then presented in the Single EIR for the project and what is not.
"Discuss extended Green Line's impact"
“Can’t get there from here: Lechmere station moves farther from neighborhoods”
East Cambridge residents will have to cross a busy seven-lane highway to get to the Lechmere T station after a condo developer moves the stop closer to his new development.
In a much-desired sign of progress on the Green Line extensions, the State’s Executive Office of Transportation (EOT) has released an Expanded Environmental Notification Form (EENF) for the project. The EOT filed this document with the Massachusetts Environmental Protection Act (MEPA) unit of the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs (EOEA). This represents the beginning of the mandatory environmental planning process for this huge project. In the coming year (or years), the EOT will submit environmental impact reports to the EOEA until they are fully approved.
The EENF states that the project is slated to start in 2011 and wrap up in 2014, costing $550 million. It describes two extensions from a relocated Lechmere stop: one extension along the west side of the Lowell commuter rail line to the Medford Hillside section of Medford (ending at College Ave or Winthrop St, but surprisingly not farther), and another extension to the Union Square area along the north side of the Fitchburg rail line (rather than into the square itself, which would better serve the area). No parking would be provided at the unstaffed platform stations, which tentatively include the following: Winthrop St (possibly), College Ave, Broadway/Ball Square, Lowell St, Medford St/Gilman Square, Washington St, and Union Square.
Download the EENF (large 18MB PDF).
On Monday, October 16, 6-8 pm, there will be a public hearing about the environmental review and planning process at Somerville High School. Come support the Green Line in Somerville!
"Analyst warns of cash shortfall for Mass. roads" "We are seriously disinvesting in our transportation infrastructure at really an alarming rate." - Michael J. Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation
"Preserving and Promoting Diverse Transit-Oriented Neighborhoods" is collaboration of the Center for Neighborhood Technology, Reconnecting America, and Strategic Economics. Download the report (PDF)
Topics included the STEP listserv, the bus survey, and the Green Line. Meeting notes (PDF)
The following is from State Representative Denise Provost's newsletter today... The hearing on the Environmental Notification Form (ENF) for the Green Line extension Âwhich we were originally told would be scheduled for September is now being postponed until October. The Executive Office of Transportation (EOT) has not given a reason for the delay. It is interesting to note that the Department…
