Author: smulder

Boston Globe: "State to take over building of T station" "State transportation leaders, frustrated by delays in the massive NorthPoint development, are taking over the building of a new MBTA station on the Cambridge property - a move necessary to ensure an on-time start to the $550 million extension of the Green Line." STEP hopes this means East Cambridge residents will…

Medford Transcript: "MGNA lobbies council to take stance on Green Line" “We have a vacuum and within that vacuum comes fear,” said Doug Carr of MGNA, “fear of parking, fear of a maintenance facility, fear for their homes. And we have no avenue for discussing this because the city is sitting on the sidelines and has been for three years.”

Somerville News: "Proposed T stops reexamined by Executive Office of Transportation" A good summary of the status of selecting station locations

Over 2,000 people have signed a petition sponsored by the Medford Green Line Neighborhood Alliance (MGNA) that supports extending the Green Line to Route 16. A Route 16 station would put Green Line service within a half-mile walk of 9,116 residents of Medford, Somerville and Arlington who would not have such access if the extension were terminated, as some have advocated,…

Opinion from the Somerville Journal
There is strong support for and interest in the coming Green Line extension throughout Somerville. With service scheduled to start at the end of December 2014, recommendations for station locations, the best route to Union Square and the location of the Green Line maintenance facility are under way as part of the Draft Environmental Impact Review conducted by the Executive Office of Transportation. The DEIR process includes opportunities for the public to participate in making recommendations. Fortunately, Somerville has many residents who are both very interested and knowledgeable about transportation and land use planning.
EOT has demonstrated openness to recommendations from the community regarding station siting and the Union Square rail alignment. Yet, we are very concerned that EOT has been less willing to consider the community’s concerns about siting an 11-acre maintenance facility and storage for 80 cars in Inner Belt next to the Brickbottom Artists Building, a vibrant, active artists’ community of 155 live/work units and 200 full-time residents. The location they are recommending is at the MBTA’s Yard 8 and adjacent land permitted for commercial development.

(more…)

EPA has approved the revised SIP transit commitments, including the Green Line extensions to Somerville and Medford. Massachusetts DEP had adopted the new regulations in 2006 but this final approval from EPA is also a necessary and important step forward. Next, the Boston MPO must finalize and submit a revised Regional Transportation Plan. Without the initial and continued consideration of Conservation…