Very bad news: State announces huge delay of Green Line extension to 2018-2020!

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Originally, the Green Line extension was supposed to open this year. Then the promise was pushed back to 2014. Then there was another delay to 2015. And now we hear the shocking, frustrating news from MassDOT that it's looking more like 2018-2020. In its annual status report on transit projects, MassDOT provides various probabilities for when the Green Line might be…

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Op-ed on McGrath Highway and the Green Line

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Boston Globe: "A hope of renewal for Somerville" "At best, the old elevated McGrath highway will hem in any economic activity following the Green Line extension, creating a barrier that impedes new business from spreading to a section of town badly in need of it. At worst, by severing neighborhoods and stifling physical connections, the McGrath could severely dampen the potential…

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Boston Globe: Some funding for Green Line planning

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"Five 'smart growth' projects get $1.5m in aid" Five development projects seen as promoting dense urban development oriented around mass transit have been chosen by the Massachusetts Smart Growth Alliance to receive $1.5 million in aid - including planning for the future along the proposed MBTA Green Line route through Somerville.

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MassDOT speaks out on Route 16 stop and Community Path

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The following is from Jeff Mullan, MassDOT Secretary…
Over the last few days, I have received your calls and e-mails advocating for MassDOT to include both the portion of the Green Line Extension to Mystic Valley Parkway and the extension of the Somerville Community Path in the Regional Transportation Plan currently being considered by the Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization. I have also spoken personally with some of you, but the volume does not permit me time to respond to each e-mail individually. Out of respect for all of you and knowing how strongly you believe in both projects, I offer this response.

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Concerns about Community Path funding

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Somerville Patch: "Questions Raised on Future of Community Path" A large section of the Somerville Community Path, a pedestrian and bike lane that currently exists outside Davis Square and could be extended through Somerville to the Cambridge border near Lechmere, has not been included in a draft long-range transportation plan put together by the influential Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization.

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Medford Patch: College Ave station design workshop

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"Green Line Workshop Gives Glimpse of College Ave Station Design" Architects showed preliminary plans for a green line stop at the intersection of Boston Avenue and College Avenue at a design workshop Tuesday night. The design workshop Tuesday was the first in a series that will touch on each planned station. The next workshop - for Ball Square - will be…

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Green Line Route 16 funding preserved!

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The Boston Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) voted today to support a plan that continues to fund the Route 16 portion of the Green Line extension in the 2016-2020 timeframe. The MPO received more than 100 public comment letters in favor of including the Route 16 portion of the Green Line extension into the plan, compared to only 11 against. Joining the…

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