Want good public transportation for Somerville?

[hammercock.livejournal.com]

Got this the other day, figured that people in this community might be interested:

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From: Karen Molloy [mailto:kmolloy@theworld.com]
Sent: Sunday, August 17, 2003 3:19 PM
To: somartscouncil@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [somartscouncil] Want good public transportation for Somerville?

GOOD PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION FOR SOMERVILLE?

BRING THE GREEN LINE TO UNION SQUARE AND THE ORANGE LINE TO ASSEMBLY SQUARE!

Faster Commutes -- Growth of Business -- A More Lively and Livable Community

Is this possible? Only with your immediate input.

Why support the Green Line in Union Square and the Orange Line in
Assembly Square?

- Davis Square thrived after the Red Line extension provided access to good public transportation. The same thing can happen in Union Square. The Green Line extension to Union Square is a crucial component of the city’s future economic viability. This would be fair.

- A Green Line stop in Union Square would provide direct mass transit service to densely developed sections of Somerville with large minority and low-income populations, reduce traffic and encourage pedestrian access. This would be fair.

- With new T service, the transformation of Union Square and Assembly Square could provide jobs, stimulate the economy, grow Somerville’s commercial tax base AND improve air quality. This would be fair.

- Eight passenger carrying rail lines pass through Somerville and only one, the Red Line, actually serves Somerville residents -- with a single stop. No other city in the state has so much rail infrastructure with so little service. This is not fair.

- Today, Somerville pays about as much to the MBTA as Newton does. Newton is served by the light rail Green Line with a large parking lot for commuters, a heavy rail commuter line with three stops in the city, and an express bus service to downtown Boston. Yet Somerville has only one rail T-stop, in Davis Square. This is not fair.

For years Massachusetts promised that the Green Line would be extended through Somerville in order to meet Federal Clean Air Act standards. Is this promise just lip service to qualify for Federal funds? Massachusetts is required to seek public input on its plans for all major transportation projects.

Your comments will help determine the future of public transportation in Somerville.

Current plans consider a stop in Union Square as an alternative, not a necessity. They give only medium priority to an Orange Line stop at Assembly Square, although it is one of the least expensive ways to reduce air pollution and encourage economic growth. You can help change these plans!

Make your voice heard. Join your neighbors in the Somerville
Transportation Equity Partnership.

Contact: citizengreen@yahoo.com, (617) 547-5050.

Join our listserv and get more info at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S_T_E_P/

PLEASE send a comment to publicinformation@ctps.org. Or, snail mail your comments by August 25 for receipt by the 27th to:

Boston MPO Chairman
c/o CTPS
10 Park Plaza, Suite 2150
Boston, MA 02116

-------------
Karen Molloy
Somerville Transportation Equity Partnership


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Comments

[dmaze]

Would an Orange Line stop at Assembly Square, without further development there, actually be useful? I live in Ten Hills, and it might save me a couple of minutes, but getting to Wellington (in Medford, but hey) is still eminently reasonable. People living in East Somerville might also be nearer Assembly Square than Sullivan, but it's impossible to cross 93. Actively lobbying for this seems like wasted effort, while a privately-funded T stop as part of a larger development there is definitely a good idea.

As far as T improvements that would benefit Somerville and are easy to do, what about a commuter rail stop at Ball Square? I know there was briefly a stop near Tufts in the early 1980's, but that was before the Alewife Red Line extension and the corresponding buildup in western Somerville. I definitely would have found this useful when I lived in Magoun Square; I don't know how many people would wait for the commuter rail rather than walk the 20 minutes to Davis proper.

(A Green Line extension from a relocated Lechmere station to Union Square and Ball Square also seems like a good idea to me; the implementation details are kind of tricky, but my vague impression has been that this is definitely going forward. Just so long as it doesn't become Bus Rapid Transit (TM)... :-)

[ceo]

I've wondered this too about the Assembly Square stop. How many people are going to want to take the Orange Line to Home Despot?

There are several ideas on the table for extending the Green Line: straight up the Lowell Line to West Medford, up the Fitchburg Line to Union Square, and the latter plus a tunnel under Prospect Hill to the Lowell Line and out to West Medford. Of the three, I like the last best; of all the potential destinations, Union Square is the one that needs it most.

More information on all of these is at this site.

[on-reserve.livejournal.com]

And of course with T lines come increased rent and gentrification. People who've lived in those neighborhoods for a long time will be forced out by younger, whiter, more professional folks. I used to live on Lowell Street and in Union Square. Putting in a T would completely change the neighborhood. One person's "revitalization" is another person's eviction notice.

[komos.livejournal.com]

That's the best icon ever. Hands down.

And you've pretty much summed up what I was thinking when I read this, too. Danke.

[on-reserve.livejournal.com]

aww thanks. And I was all ready to be flamed. I really don't mean to rain on the public transport parade but too often I feel like new residents to a community (and by new I mean having lived there less than 10 years) don't take into account that things that would be *so* convenient for them might devastate others. Sure, Davis Square is a veritable Bohemian hub now, and people don't often talk to the folks who used to live there. Look at Harvard Square -- it didn't always used to be like that, with chain stores and overpriced everything.
Sure, some cool stores remain but many more have closed up (RIP Funny Farm!). Eh, I'm a rambling cranky old lady, but I feel passionately about this issue.

[hammercock.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't flame you. I think you have some valid points. I posted that email because I thought people here would want to know and would want to make their opinions heard. I hope you're going to share your thoughts by sending them to the address at the end of the letter.

[komos.livejournal.com]

Really, my priorities for public transportation don't include putting more stops into a city that already seems well covered. I'd much rather see better service on existing routes and better coverage for places like the Washington Street branch that lost its El and never had it replaced. ('Course, now I'm wondering how the "Silver Line" is working on that score and have to confess that I lost track of that story.)

How to strike the balance is the biggest question. Revitalization and access to public transportation for those who most need it is desirable, but it seems like gentrification and mallification are never far behind. I don't have answers, just lots of concerns.

[dmaze]

There was a proposal to put light rail along Washington Street when the elevated got torn down, but the federal government wouldn't fund it. Every indication I have is that the "Silver Line" is, fundamentally, a bus, regardless of the amount of marketing it's received. I'm kind of doubtful that it's going to do anything like "revitalize Dudley Square" that one might hope for from transit in that direction.

There's an article in today's Globe that talks about minority transit concerns in Dorchester, incidentally, which mentions the Silver Line ("they're spending all this money on connecting Roxbury to the airport, but we don't care about that"). If you're into reading newsgroups, I also find the ne.transportation group to be fairly informative.

[komos.livejournal.com]

The Silver Line is just another bus, albeit a bus that was supposed to have its own dedicated lane. There was a fair amount of concern that in spite all of the spin, it was just going to be another bus line with all of the problems that bus lines have. I got sloppy and lost track of the story along the way.

Thanks for the info. I'll be checking these out soon.

[enmascarado.livejournal.com]

Given how very close Assembly Square and Sullivan Square are, the Orange line addition would be inefficient. (This is not fair.)

I also wonder where they would plan to put the Union Square t-stop and the parking lot it would need. (This request is fair.) Also, as dykeprincess mentioned, it would completely and totally alter the neighbourhood. (This is not fair.)

I'm all for the MBTA making the T better and more accessible, but there are more questions than answers in the above post. Simple three word sentences at the end of a paragraph don't make a summation.

-Dan

[hammercock.livejournal.com]

I think you should go ahead and ask her the questions which you would like answered. Hell, post the answers here, if you get some. :)

Make your voice heard where it counts, too, by mailing the address at the end of the email!

[enmascarado.livejournal.com]

Done.

Well, I e-mailed the address of the people sending the letter, not the MBTA. Before I e-mail the MBTA, I'd have to research their plans.

-Dan