State (EOT) Green Line meetings next week (Monday in Medford, Wednesday in Somerville)

[fefie.livejournal.com]

(The information below is from directly from EOT. )

The Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation (EOT) is holding two public meetings next week to discuss the Green Line Extension Project.  

Mon. March 9, 5:30PM  Brooks Elementary School 388 High St. Medford

Wed. March 11, 5:30PM Somerville High School 81 Highland Ave. Somerville

EOT will present an overview of the project at the meetings   This will include an environmental analysis, their recommendations for station sites, and their preferred alignment for the two branches of the Green Line.

At both meetings, there will be an Open House from 5:30 to 6:30 PM, where members of the project team will be available to answer questions about the project.  The meeting presentation will begin at 6:30 PM, followed by a public question and comment period.

more...EOT will be seeking public comment in advance of filing a Draft Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Assessment (DEIR/EA) for the Green Line Extension at both meetings,  There will be a Public Hearing and comment period for the DEIR/EA as well.

This long-envisioned transit project will extend existing service from relocated Lechmere Station through the municipalities of Cambridge, Somerville, and Medford, with an extension of the main line to Route 16 and an adjunct line to Union Square.  By bringing MBTA light rail service to these densely populated cities, the Commonwealth will address long-standing transportation inequities and meet strong demand for improved transit.  EOT and the MBTA are committed to this project, which will produce both economic and environmental benefits for the corridor.

Location information and additional project information are available at the project website, www.GreenLineExtension.org.

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Background: In December, 2007 the Executive Office of Transportation (EOT) initiated the Draft Environmental Impact Review (EIR) process for the Green Line after Governor Patrick committed to extending the Green Line by 2014 though Somerville.  

Now that EOT is getting ready to release the Draft EIR  it has scheduled two meetings (one in Somerville and one in Medford) to present their recommendations for station locations, track alignment and the location of a proposed maintenance facility. STEP (Somerville Transportation Equity Partnership) strongly encourages you to attend one of the meetings to ask questions about what EOT has recommended for the Green Line extensions.

Comments

[ceo]

This is being funded by the state and (hopefully) the feds, not by the MBTA itself.

[ron_newman]

What change would you like to see in this plan?

[rethcir.livejournal.com]

If there weren't those "extra guys", A. nobody could operate the doors and B. I'm sure someone would complain about how unsafe it is to ride the T with such little supervision.

[ron_newman]

The trains could probably be rewired to allow the front driver to open and close all doors. I think that would be an experiment worth trying. But it's irrelevant to the Green Line expansion.

I think you're a minority in Somerville

[avjudge]

The sense that everything seems to give me (including the meetings I've been to) is that you're a minority in Somerville. The more common sentiment is why the green line didn't reach here 10 years ago, like it was supposed to. Remember, the multiple stops of the green line will be closer to many more people than the single stops of the red & orange lines. People who are a 20-30 minute walk to the red or orange line care much more about getting the green line than about how well those other 2 run. If you think the red & orange lines run poorly, try relying a bus.

[bettyw.livejournal.com]

Deeper background - this extension was promised as an environmental impact concession for allowing the Big Dig to happen, and then got ignored for many years. So while it is now not the best time fiscally to be doing it, I believe that they are legally required to do it.

Ha - while looking for a link to substantiate the above, I discovered that the Green Line Extension has an official Facebook page! (http://www.facebook.com/pages/MBTA-Green-Line-Extension/53151441680)