MassDEP: Transit System Improvement Amendments (Red/Blue Connector)

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metasyntactic

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http://www.mass.gov/dep/public/hearings/transit12.htm

Notice is hereby given that the Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP), under its authority pursuant to M.G.L. Chapter 111, Sections 142A through 142M, and in conformance with M.G.L. Chapter 30A, will hold a public hearing on amendments to 310 CMR 7.36, Transit System Improvements. The purpose of the public hearing is to solicit comments on proposed amendments to 310 CMR 7.36. The proposed amendments were requested by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) and delete the requirement that the MassDOT complete the final design of the Red Line/Blue Line Connector. The proposed amendments also lengthen the existing public process requirement that MassDEP hold a public meeting on the annual update and status report within 60 days to 75 days and replace the term Executive Office of Transportation (EOT) with MassDOT.
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Thursday, September 13, 2012
1:00 p.m. & 5:00 p.m.
(The 5:00 p.m. public meeting will be extended after 6:00 p.m. as needed to allow for all interested parties to present testimony.)

MassDEP Headquarters
Washington Street Conference Center, Rooms A, B & C
One Winter Street, 2nd Floor
Boston, MA 02108
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Absolutely ridiculous. Well I guess the RB Connector has now become a 2050 vision. So sad.

Hopefully people speak up in favor of keeping it on the table.
 
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Are any of us going? I know it feels futile, but some kind of stand needs to be made. The UHub commentators seems outrage, what about us here (who don't overlap)?
 
ant8904 said:
Are any of us going? I know it feels futile, but some kind of stand needs to be made. The UHub commentators seems outrage, what about us here (who don't overlap)?
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The 1pm conflicts with a class I have that day and I feel like I'd be cutting things way too close with Amtrak Regional #179 if I stayed through the 5pm-6pm.

I'd like to go, though. We'll see.

Maybe I'll bump in to one or more of people here and not recognize anyone!
 
I might be able to get to the 5:00 one, I have work till 4....

I love how they scheduled this either in the middle of the workday or during rush hour...
 
davem said:
I might be able to get to the 5:00 one, I have work till 4....

I love how they scheduled this either in the middle of the workday or during rush hour...
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I'm seriously considering blowing off my 1 pm class for this.

This is important, right? As many people should show up as possible?
 
I'm going to the 1pm. I'll have my stylin' archboston.org shirt on.
 
Well, I went to the 1 pm. I'm probably going back for the 5 pm because man, oh man, was the turnout for the 1 pm ever depressing.

I didn't testify, but maybe I should have.
 
Any notes or thoughts you can share? What was the atmosphere like? Did anyone talk about keeping this project on the table?
 
Mostly CLF folks. The single MassDOT representative there was a fellow who actually lives in E. Boston and uses the Blue Line. But they're making him do the work to shut this down. Cruel almost.
 
datadyne007 said:
Any notes or thoughts you can share? What was the atmosphere like? Did anyone talk about keeping this project on the table?
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Everyone who testified was in favor of keeping the project.

All four of them.

I would've testified but I think Matthew said everything I wanted to say anyway, so I didn't.

Atmosphere seemed quiet, almost resigned really. As Matthew said, there was only the one gentleman from MassDOT there and no actual MBTA representatives. I'm heading back for the 5 pm - if this afternoon was any indication, it'll be done in plenty of time to catch the 6:45 pm home.

And maybe I'll actually talk to someone this time.
 
First up, the Sierra Club's advocate.

Yes, I'm liveposting this.

(And I'm collapsing this down into two posts.)

Someone else just walked in, we're up to five attendees.

Next up speaking... BostonUrbEx? Is that you?

e: Yeah that was UrbEx, and it turns out attendee #5 is another Sierra Club representative.

e2: Nobody else has brought up the matter of cost. I guess I'll do it.

e3: OH GOD I'M SO EMBARRASSED

e4: UrbEx left, someone else showed up. We're at 6.

e5: Well, this is a wrap unless a sudden influx of folks shows up at 6.
 
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Oh! So you did go again to the 5pm! I wasn't sure if anyone from here was there or not.

Commuting Boston Student said:
e2: Nobody else has brought up the matter of cost. I guess I'll do it.

e3: OH GOD I'M SO EMBARRASSED
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Embarrassed? That was good stuff! I wish I had brought that up as well. The Sierra people gave you a little applause, haha. :)


I attacked MassDOT's attempt to get out of this with the following points:

-System pinch point; reduced capacity at core stations and on all lines
-GLX will exacerbate problem; more full trains from the north, no more empty D trains, more crowded E trains
-North Shore development; Eastie, Chelsea, Revere, Winthrop, Saugus, Lynn, Swampscott, Marblehead, and even Salem will benefit
-BLX Lynn; it can't happen without this
-Timeframe; BLX has been coming for 50 years, it will be at least another 50 without RBC!

I wish I came prepared, but I had to come up with all my thoughts in 5 minutes and then make up a little speech.
 
Wasn't able to make it to the meeting but I did send them this earlier tonight:

I was unable to attend either of the public meetings held today, 13 September 2012; as such, please take into account this written testimony with respect to the topic of proposed amendments to 310 CMR 7.36, Transit System Improvements.

The proposed amendments are simple, short-sighted solutions to much broader and deeper systemic issues for which Boston and environs will be paying a much larger price in the future. Specifically, removing the requirement that MassDOT complete the Red-Blue Connector design is counterproductive and condemns the core of Boston's rapid transit network - Government Center, Park Street, Downtown Crossing and State Street stations - to a guaranteed state of gridlock within a very short amount of time. The hub-and-spoke model relies far too heavily on double connections and has left the aforementioned stations choked by passenger demand exceeding their operational capabilities.

Chief among these gridlock-producing transfers is the jog between Government Center and Park Street for passengers to move between the Red and Blue Lines. Failing to link the Blue and Red Lines directly at Charles/MGH puts an unnecessary burden on the already-overloaded Green Line. The Red-Blue Connector is an absolutely essential piece of Boston's rapid transit infrastructure that ought to have been built decades ago. Removing the design requirement will most surely push the construction to the bottom of the list of immediate transit funding needs. This will have crushing and cascading consequences for the Greater Boston public transportation system, which relies so heavily on commuting patterns and traffic flows that are destined for, or pass through, one of the four transfer stations. Increasingly severe delays, impossible-to-follow scheduling and dangerously crowded platforms are just a few examples of what we can expect to see at Boston's hub stations without a Red-Blue Connector.

Furthermore, a Red-Blue Connector opens many possibilities for extending various lines - most importantly the long talked about extension of the Blue Line towards Lynn. The current Downtown transfer station set up cannot handle any more traffic above incremental increases they receive from fluctuation in gas prices and other externalities which increase transit usage. In addition to streamlining various traffic flows served via double connections, linking the Red and Blue Lines would free capacity for more through traffic on all lines.

The benefits of a Red-Blue Connector are many and can only be realized if we have a design. The pitfalls of not proceeding in the near term - or outright removing requirements to design it - are many, and increase exponentially over time. The focus should not be about deferring issues until later, but rather on approaching difficult topics (such as funding) in a systematic and pragmatic way to do what is best for the entire Greater Boston region.

We owe it to ourselves to have a world-class transit system for the world-class communities in which we live. In order to help us achieve this goal and hold MassDOT accountable for stipulations the State made regarding the Big Dig, I urge MassDEP to reject the proposed amendment to remove the Red-Blue Connector design requirement from 310 CMR 7.36.
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They're accepting testimony until 9/24:

Following the hearing, written testimony will be accepted until 5:00 p.m. on September 24, 2012. MassDEP requests that written testimony be submitted electronically via e-mail to: jerome.grafe@state.ma.us. Written testimony may also be sent to: Jerome Grafe, MassDEP, Bureau of Waste Prevention, One Winter Street, 6th Floor, Boston, MA 02108.
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I did my part. Unfortunately, between work and my next plans. All I can do is walk in quickly and left quickly with a short verbal testimony. My original plan was to sit in to give support by giving more bodies. Unfortunately increasing the number from 5 to 6 isn't what I was hoping to see, so I made up a little speech from the top of my head. I was hoping to see some Uhubbers after the outrage they expressed. Imagine if Swirlygrrl was there, it might not been the best argument and probably fully of snark, but it would have been entertaining.
 
I wrote letters to six state reps last night, delivered them to their offices today. I informed them of MassDOT's intent, why the project is so important, and where they can send their own testimony to weigh in. I wrote to reps for Eastie, Chelsea, Winthrop (I bet DeLeo cares the least of them all... meh...), Revere, Saugus, and Lynn.
 
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