CLF Settlement: Transit to Offset Big Dig

Arlington

Arlington

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I'm posting this here just because it is hard to find the "original" CLF settlement that kicked off 3 decades of transit work in Boston. Recall that in the final hours of the Dukakis Administration, the State and the CLF cut a deal for transit offsets--essentially cutting a "friendly" deal with the Dukakis Admin rather than risk having to negotiate with the incoming Governor Weld.

While not the settlement agreement (please post if you have access) what I've reproduced below is what was later enacted as 310 CMR. I'm just quoting the "project list" part. Other sections in the PDF include provisions for filing support documents and provisions for substituting other projects.

I believe the list below is actually modified from the original, and this is hinted at by a provision (in section 8) that says:
1. Calculating the NMHC, CO, and NOx emission reductions that would have been achieved by completion of each of the following projects, using latest planning assumptions and latest air quality emission models: the Green Line Arborway Restoration; the Blue Line Connection from Bowdoin Station to the Red Line at Charles Station; and the Green Line Extension to Ball Square/Tufts University;
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My bolding added implies both that the original deal included Arborway and Red-Blue, and also that, while the original deal was GLX to "Medford Hillside" (see end of quote below) by the time this provision was added, they knew that GLX terminus was more specifically in the Ball Square/Tufts U area.



7.36: U Transit System Improvements
(2) Transit System Improvement Projects. MassDOT shall plan and construct and render available for public use, transit system improvement projects including the following projects in accordance with the schedules and requirements set forth in 310 CMR 7.36:

(a) Before December 31, 1992 construction of the following facilities shall be completed and opened to full public use:
1. Lynn Central Square Station and Parking Garage
2. North Station high platforms and new tracks
3. Lynn Transit Station Bus Terminal

(b) Before December 31, 1994 construction of the following facilities shall be completed and opened to full public use:
1. South Station Bus Terminal
2. South Station Track #12
3. Ipswich Commuter Rail Line extension to Newburyport

(c) Before December 31, 1996 construction of the following facilities shall be complete and opened to full public use:
1. Old Colony Commuter Rail Line Extensions to Middleboro and Plymouth
2. Framingham Commuter Rail line extension to Worcester
3. 10,000 Park and Ride and Commuter Rail Station parking spaces system-wide outside of the Boston core area as defined by a report to be submitted to the Department by MassDOT which identifies the location, size and market area of each facility constructed to satisfy this requirement. Said report will be submitted three months prior to the deadline for this project. 310 CMR 7.36

(d) Before December 31, 1999 construction of the following facilities shall be completed and opened to full public use: 10,000 Park and Ride and Commuter Rail Station Parking spaces system-wide outside of the Boston Core Area in addition to those spaces developed pursuant to 310 CMR 7.36(2)(c)3. as defined by a report to be submitted to the Department by MassDOT which identifies the location, size and market area of each facility constructed to satisfy this requirement. Said report shall be submitted three months prior to the deadline for this project.

(e) Before December 31, 2001 construction of the following facility shall be completed and opened to full public use: South Boston Piers Electric Bus Service [NOTE: later known as the Silver Line Tunnel]

(f) Before December 31, 2007, construction of the following facility shall be completed and opened to full public use: Old Colony Commuter Rail Line Extension to Scituate (Greenbush).

(g) Before December 31, 2008, construction of the following facility shall be completed and opened to full public use: Blue Line Platform Lengthening and Modernization.

(h) Before December 31, 2011, construction of the following facilities shall be completed and opened to full public use:
1. Fairmount Line improvements consisting of enhancements of existing stations including, without limitation: platform extensions; improved lighting and improved access; a new station in the general location of Four Corners, and a new station in each of the neighborhoods of Dorchester, Mattapan and Roxbury; and bridge upgrades and other measures to improve service and increase ridership (the Fairmount Line project). MassDOT shall meet the following interim deadlines for the Fairmount Line Project:
a. One year from the effective date of 310 CMR 7.36, develop a Request for Proposals for a design consultant, complete the competitive procurement process, and issue a notice to proceed for a design consultant; and
b. Within two years following completion of the requirements of 310 CMR 7.36(2)(h)1.a., complete the requirements of 310 CMR 7.36(3)(e)1. through 6. and 310 CMR 7.36(3)(f). 310 CMR 7.36
2. 1000 new park and ride parking spaces serving commuter transit facilities, in addition to those required by 310 CMR 7.36(2)(c)3. and (d), within the 101 cities and towns constituting the Boston Metropolitan Planning Organization.

(i) Before December 31, 2014, construction of the following facilities shall be completed and opened to full public use:
1. The Green Line Extension from Lechmere Station to Medford Hillside; and
2. The Green Line Union Square spur of the Green Line Extension to Medford Hillside.
Click to expand...
 
Let's see how we fared on timelines. . .

(a) Before December 31, 1992 construction of the following facilities shall be completed and opened to full public use:
1. Lynn Central Square Station and Parking Garage​
2. North Station high platforms and new tracks​
3. Lynn Transit Station Bus Terminal​
1-3. ACTUAL opening: 1/31/1992

(b) Before December 31, 1994 construction of the following facilities shall be completed and opened to full public use:
1. South Station Bus Terminal -- ACTUAL open: 11/1995​
2. South Station Track #12 -- ACTUAL open 9/26/1997 + Track 13. Provisioned during 1989 renovation, not hooked up till Old Colony service. (Call this half-and-half because open was circumstantial and capacity amended up.)​
3. Ipswich Commuter Rail Line extension to Newburyport -- ACTUAL open: 10/28/1998​

(c) Before December 31, 1996 construction of the following facilities shall be complete and opened to full public use:
1. Old Colony Commuter Rail Line Extensions to Middleboro and Plymouth -- ACTUAL open: 9/26/1997​
2. Framingham Commuter Rail line extension to Worcester -- ACTUAL open: 9/26/1994 WOR rush-only (off-peak 12/14/1996; Grafton 2/23/2000; Southborough & Westborough 6/22/2002; Ashland 8/24/2002)​
3. 10,000 Park and Ride and Commuter Rail Station parking spaces system-wide outside of the Boston core area as defined by a report to be submitted to the Department by MassDOT which identifies the location, size and market area of each facility constructed to satisfy this requirement. Said report will be submitted three months prior to the deadline for this project. 310 CMR 7.36 -- ACTUAL: Wonderland (6/30/2012) + Salem (11/17/2014) + Beverly (8/2/2014) after settlement of CLF lawsuit whittled down commitments. Most of 10K capacity never built.​

(d) Before December 31, 1999 construction of the following facilities shall be completed and opened to full public use: 10,000 Park and Ride and Commuter Rail Station Parking spaces system-wide outside of the Boston Core Area in addition to those spaces developed pursuant to 310 CMR 7.36(2)(c)3. as defined by a report to be submitted to the Department by MassDOT which identifies the location, size and market area of each facility constructed to satisfy this requirement. Said report shall be submitted three months prior to the deadline for this project.
(e) Before December 31, 2001 construction of the following facility shall be completed and opened to full public use: South Boston Piers Electric Bus Service [NOTE: later known as the Silver Line Tunnel] -- ACTUAL open: 12/17/2004​
(f) Before December 31, 2007, construction of the following facility shall be completed and opened to full public use: Old Colony Commuter Rail Line Extension to Scituate (Greenbush). -- ACTUAL open: 10/31/2007​
(g) Before December 31, 2008, construction of the following facility shall be completed and opened to full public use: Blue Line Platform Lengthening and Modernization. -- ACTUAL open: 2004-07​

(h) Before December 31, 2011, construction of the following facilities shall be completed and opened to full public use:
1. Fairmount Line improvements consisting of enhancements of existing stations including, without limitation: platform extensions; improved lighting and improved access; a new station in the general location of Four Corners, and a new station in each of the neighborhoods of Dorchester, Mattapan and Roxbury; and bridge upgrades and other measures to improve service and increase ridership (the Fairmount Line project). MassDOT shall meet the following interim deadlines for the Fairmount Line Project:​
a. One year from the effective date of 310 CMR 7.36, develop a Request for Proposals for a design consultant, complete the competitive procurement process, and issue a notice to proceed for a design consultant; and​
b. Within two years following completion of the requirements of 310 CMR 7.36(2)(h)1.a., complete the requirements of 310 CMR 7.36(3)(e)1. through 6. and 310 CMR 7.36(3)(f). 310 CMR 7.36 -- ACTUAL: never implemented​
2. 1000 new park and ride parking spaces serving commuter transit facilities, in addition to those required by 310 CMR 7.36(2)(c)3. and (d), within the 101 cities and towns constituting the Boston Metropolitan Planning Organization. -- ACTUAL: settled w/CLF lawsuit, watered-down​

(i) Before December 31, 2014, construction of the following facilities shall be completed and opened to full public use:
1. The Green Line Extension from Lechmere Station to Medford Hillside; and -- ACTUAL: 16 years late and counting​
2. The Green Line Union Square spur of the Green Line Extension to Medford Hillside. -- ACTUAL: 16 years late and counting​
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This of course does not account for fact that Silver Line was severely watered-down and Greenbush was somewhat watered-down and severely over-budget on final build because of the political perversion allowed to feast on it, so those "on-times" have other hidden asterisks.


Basically, Weld's Admin who actually signed this was the only one who took any of the deliverables halfway-seriously, as anything that wasn't in active design-build by the mid-late 90's was pretty much gutted like a fish (parking, Silver Line) or punted like a deflated football (GLX, Greenbush suburban politics). His 5 immediate successors almost couldn't be bothered to wipe their asses with this. Which I guess is a lesson for future generations that if you want a commitment to truly be binding, you have to dole the deliverable specifics no more than 2 Gov./4 Legislative terms at a time and renew the entire process once per decade to make it stick. Sort of like how the FRA mandates a once-every-10-years State Rail Plan stating all mainline rail build priorities for the federal record on rolling decade deadlines...only we'd need to booby-trap state gov't to obeying the same —=binding=— rolling 10-year deadlines for transpo Master Planning. Otherwise it's total prey to political cycles. So we need something toothy and long-term...but not too long-term that the future regimes who didn't oversee its creation can just choose to willfully ignore it.
 
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Can anyone Google up a dawn-of-the-www document that lists Arborway and Red-Blue as part of the original deal?
 
A quick search found this

Draft Transportation Improvement Program and Air Quality Conformity Determination: Federal Fiscal Years 2014–17

Chapter Four – Determination of Air Quality Conformity
Red Line–Blue Line Connector – Final Design – SIP Required Completion by December 2011
Project Status
MassDOT and the MBTA have proposed to nullify the commitment to perform final design of the Red Line–Blue Line Connector due to the unaffordability of the eventual construction of the project. MassDOT has initiated a process to amend the SIP to permanently and completely remove the obligation to perform final design of the Red Line–Blue Line Connector. To this end, MassDOT will work with DEP and with the general public on the amendment process. MassDOT is not proposing to substitute any new projects in place of the Red Line–Blue Line Connector commitment, given the absence of any air quality benefits associated with the current Red Line–Blue Line commitment (final design only). Correspondence from MassDOT to DEP formally initiating the amendment process was submitted on July 27, 2011, and is posted on the MassDOT website.

On September 13, 2012, DEP held two public hearings (at 1:00 PM and 5:00 PM) to take public comment on MassDOT’s proposed amendments to 310 CMR 7.36, Transit System Improvements, including the elimination of the requirement to complete final design of the Red Line/Blue Line Connector. Between the two hearings there were 16 attendees, 10 of whom gave oral testimony. All those who spoke at the hearings spoke in favor of DEP not removing the commitment. DEP accepted written testimony until September 24, 2012.


Funding Source: MassDOT is proposing to nullify this commitment
 
Arlington said:
Can anyone Google up a dawn-of-the-www document that lists Arborway and Red-Blue as part of the original deal?
Click to expand...

The 1990 "Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement/Report (FSEIS/R)" is the CA/T project document that first lists the mitigation measures. Full text of that seems to be paywalled at a lot of .edu libraries, but haven't found a readable PDF of it.

Did find this: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-1994-10-04/html/94-24421.htm.
Amendment to Massachusetts SIP (for Ozone and for Carbon Monoxide) for Transit Systems Improvements and High Occupancy Vehicle Facilities in the Metropolitan Boston Air Pollution Control District), effective 11/3/1994. Purpose was to split the section on HOV lanes in the FSEIS/R apart from Transit, incorporating EPA recs. It references the original text from the 1990 agreement, so I guess the following should suffice. . .

Code: 
                                 Table 1                               
------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Project type and assigned                                             
      completion date                     Project description           
------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOV Project 12/31/91........  HOV Lane: I-93 Southbound HOV Lane, North
                               Of The Southbound Bank Of The Charles   
                               River, Shall Be Extended Toward Route 128
                               To The Northernmost Point Appropriate. No
                               Addition Of New Lanes.                   
HOV Project 12/31/91........  HOV Lane: The Final Design Of The Charles
                               River Crossing On The Southbound Side Of
                               I-93 Extending Down To The Exit Ramp To 
                               Nashua Street Shall Include A HOV Lane On
                               The Southbound Side Of I-93. HOV Lane   
                               Shall Be Available With Opening Of CA/THT
                               Project.                                 
Transit Project 12/31/92....  Lynn Central Square Station & Parking     
                               Garage.                                 
Transit Project 12/31/92....  North Station High Platform & High Tracks.
Transit Project 12/31/92....  Lynn Transit Station Bus Terminal.       
HOV Project 05/31/92........  HOV Lane: Northbound & Southbound on I-93
                               Beginning At The Intersection Of I-93   
                               With I-90 & Extending To A Point         
                               Immediately North On The Intersection Of
                               I-93 & Route 3. [If The Threshold       
                               Standards Are Violated For Three         
                               Consecutive Months. Earlier             
                               Implementation If EOTC Determines.       
Transit Project 12/31/94....  South Station Bus Terminal.               
Transit Project 12/31/94....  South Station Track Number 12.           
Transit Project 12/31/94....  Ipswich Commuter Rail Line Extension To   
                               Newburyport.                             
Transit Project 12/31/96....  Old Colony Commuter Rail Line Extension. 
Transit Project 12/31/96....  Framingham Commuter Rail Link Extension To
                               Worcester.                               
Transit Project 12/31/96....  Park & Ride & Commuter Rail Parking Spaces
                               Outside Of The Boston Core [10,000].     
Transit Project 12/31/97....  Green Line Arborway Restoration.         
Transit Project 12/31/98....  Blue Line Platform Lengthening &         
                               Modernization.                           
Transit Project 12/31/99....  Park & Ride & Commuter Rail Station       
                               Parking Spaces Outside Of The Boston Core
                               In Addition To Those Completed by Dec.   
                               31, 1996 [10,000].                       
Transit Project 12/31/01....  South Boston Piers Electric Bus Service. 
Transit Project 12/31/11....  Green Line Extension To Ball Square/Tufts
                               University.                             
Transit Project 12/31/11....  Blue Line Connection From Bowdoin Station
                               To The Red Line At Charles Station.

Jesus Christ...Arborway by my sophomore year at BU.😭


...and for 30 years we've been letting the one transit project that never made this list suck all the oxygen from the ones that were: South Coast Rail.
 
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