The fight continues ...
After DOT call, Lynners Green (Line) with envy
By Robin Kaminski / The Daily Item
LYNN - Blue Line commuters and Lynn residents alike were undoubtedly green with envy Tuesday over the news that the MBTA's Green Line is slated to be extended into Medford in the near future.
Recommended by the state Department of Transportation, the extension of the Green Line to the Mystic Valley Parkway in Medford is part of several public transit programs intended to offset increased air pollution and traffic congestion caused by the Big Dig Estimated to cost about $700 million, the plan hinges on federal funding, which Transportation Secretary James Aloisi said he expects the extension to qualify for and anticipates construction to begin by 2012.
Under the agreement, Green Line construction must finish by the end of 2014.
Transportation officials estimate the plan, which would extend service through East Cambridge, Somerville and Medford, would generate 8,900 new riders.
State Rep. Steve Walsh said any amount of money spent on rapid transit is a positive, but emphasized that Lynn has waited long enough for its own extension.
"Cambridge, Somerville and Medford came together as a community and sued, and because of that, they were able to push ahead of us on the list," he said. "Lynn has already waited 50 years, so if there isn't some relief by rapid transit in the near future, then we need to start looking at ways to take some drastic measures as a city."
Senator Thomas McGee said while the Green Line extension is frustrating because he and other officials have waited decades for the same thing to happen in Lynn, the project is not about one being more important than the other, it was about a lawsuit.
"The Conservation Law Foundation sued the state because the project had not been finished yet," he said. "The Blue Line was not part of the mitigation and is totally separate. They are two different projects.'
McGee did say that $270 million in bond money has been specifically set aside for the Blue Line and that it continues to remain in the mix.
"We are facing a huge transportation crunch right now, but once we can resolve the larger infrastructure projects, we can move forward with the Blue Line," McGee said.
Last year, Gov. Deval Patrick submitted a transportation bill to the legislature to improve public transportation across the state, including the extension of the Blue Line rapid transit rail from Revere to Lynn.
The bill also supported extending the Green Line rapid-transit rail to Somerville and Medford; adding four stops on the Fairmont commuter rail line; making critical improvements to the Fitchburg commuter rail line; providing planning funds for the Urban Ring; commuter rail service to Fall River and New Bedford, more parking at transit hubs, and the Blue Line extension.
Two potential extension routes for the Blue Line to reach Lynn, include one path that would run through marshland alongside the existing Newburyport/Rockport commuter rail line on rail lines formerly operated by the Boston and Maine railroad. Another alternative would extend the line alongside Revere Beach Boulevard through Point of Pines and the Lynnway.
Other alternatives include increased commuter rail or bus service, or connecting the Blue Line to a commuter rail stop near Wonderland via a short connector.
http://www.thedailyitemoflynn.com/articles/2009/02/04/news/news05.txt
I'm more in favor of the Green Line extension happening before the extension to Lynn, but I still think in an important project to opening up the North Shore.
