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Neighborhood Groups Not On Board
MBTA Says Silver Line Proposal Is Popular But Some Neighborhood Groups Protest Plan
Jul 21, 2006
by Adam Smith
According to the MBTA, its newest Silver Line bus route proposal for Tremont and Charles Streets has been met by community members with open arms.
The plan has "widespread support among many elected officials and community groups," said Joe Pesaturo, an MBTA spokesman.
But judging from a press conference held July 17 by a diverse group of critics of the bus route, the mass transit proposal also has widespread opposition.
Claiming that the MBTA has failed to hear them out, the community activists, politicians and university representatives told local news media gathered at Elliot Norton Park that the MBTA's plans are "unacceptable" and "disruptive" to several Boston neighborhoods.
Shouting over the buzz of buses and cars whizzing down nearby Tremont Street, Lai Kim Fung of the Mass Pike Towers Tenants Association said the project "will have a (negative) impact on our life and our health."
The Silver Line project would likely necessitate the demolition of two buildings in the Mass Pike Towers apartment complex, which offers federally subsidized housing to its low-income residents. Mark Slater of the Bay Village Neighborhood Association, who fears the bus route's tunnel would upset groundwater levels and harm historic homes, called the planned bus route "a complete sham." Other critics included Emerson College, New England School of Law and state representative Byron Rushing.
But Pesaturo of the MBTA -- Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority -- suggested the opposition was premature. He maintains that the MBTA has completed only "one percent" of the proposed route's design, and that the authority will work with residents and community groups to retool the plans if needed.
"We're just in the early stages of the public input process," said Pesaturo during an interview after the press conference. "There is ample time for discussion of this proposal."
The MBTA unveiled its most recent Silver Line Phase III proposal in March, several months after tabling an earlier set of proposals in August that Pesaturo acknowledges proved unpopular. The new plan would create a bus portal at Tremont Street and Marginal Road, near Mass Pike Towers, and dig a tunnel under Charles and Boylston streets.
The underground bus route would connect to a station underneath the Boylston Street T stop and link the Silver Line's existing service from Dudley Square in Roxbury to Downtown and service from South Station to Logan Airport and the Boston Waterfront.
The MBTA maintains that the final phase would be crucial to the completion of the entire Silver Line bus route and would allow continuous service from Dudley Square to the airport. Once completed, the line would serve more than 160,000 riders daily, the MBTA says, and relieve congested subway lines and streets.
Pesaturo said that key supporters of the proposal include the Artery Business Community, also known as the A Better City and Congressman Michael Capuano.
But the line's critics say the bus route and its construction are unwanted.
While some called for a reworking of the proposal, others said the entire Silver Line is flawed. Bob Terrell, a longtime activist with Lower Washington Street Taskforce, said the bus line should be scrapped and converted to light rail. Members of the Roxbury Neighborhood Council echoed the call for light rail instead of the currently used buses that stretch up to 60 feet in length.
Pesaturo indicated that light rail is out of the question, and called the Silver Line "the most popular bus route in the MBTA system. It's very clear that people are satisfied with the service and that most people do not care if it's on steel or rubber as long as it's safe, reliable and frequent, and that's what the Silver Line is."
In Chinatown, however, there is another concern. Many fear that the construction of the Phase III portal at Tremont Street would push out residents and businesses indefinitely from the Mass Pike Towers apartment complex. To build the portal as planned, two buildings at the residential towers would need to be demolished, according to the MBTA. When asked about plans to relocate the residents and businesses of those buildings, Pesaturo said: "Those are questions that would be answered if it ever came to that." When pressed further, he said: "Those are things that we can talk about at length as the process moves along."
The critics of the bus route plan said they timed Monday's press conference to show to federal officials that the proposal is opposed by many in the community.
In August, the MBTA will apply for funds from the Federal Transit Administration, or FTA, to help pay for the Phase III project. After the previous set of proposals submitted last year proved unpopular, the MBTA pulled an earlier application for funding, and it hopes to get approval for this round.
Pesaturo appeared to downplay this year?s application to the FTA.
"We're just looking to get a thumbs up (telling us) that we're headed in the right direction from the FTA," said Pesaturo.
He declined to disclose the amount the MBTA is seeking from the FTA or to give a cost estimate for the Phase III project as it now stands.
When asked why the MBTA plans to step up the community process for the proposal after seeking federal funding instead of before, Pesaturo said the MBTA has already met with "dozens" of interested community groups and that it is waiting until the proposal is "formalized.?
I think that this plan could only go forward if they can somehow replace those subsidized housing to somewhere else. Anyway, I hope this project will go through. I also hope that instead of the Silver Line being a BRT, it should become a light rail. Silver Line buses clogs up the road along Washington Street especially in the area from DT to Chinatown where the road is really narrow.
MBTA Says Silver Line Proposal Is Popular But Some Neighborhood Groups Protest Plan
Jul 21, 2006
by Adam Smith
According to the MBTA, its newest Silver Line bus route proposal for Tremont and Charles Streets has been met by community members with open arms.
The plan has "widespread support among many elected officials and community groups," said Joe Pesaturo, an MBTA spokesman.
But judging from a press conference held July 17 by a diverse group of critics of the bus route, the mass transit proposal also has widespread opposition.
Claiming that the MBTA has failed to hear them out, the community activists, politicians and university representatives told local news media gathered at Elliot Norton Park that the MBTA's plans are "unacceptable" and "disruptive" to several Boston neighborhoods.
Shouting over the buzz of buses and cars whizzing down nearby Tremont Street, Lai Kim Fung of the Mass Pike Towers Tenants Association said the project "will have a (negative) impact on our life and our health."
The Silver Line project would likely necessitate the demolition of two buildings in the Mass Pike Towers apartment complex, which offers federally subsidized housing to its low-income residents. Mark Slater of the Bay Village Neighborhood Association, who fears the bus route's tunnel would upset groundwater levels and harm historic homes, called the planned bus route "a complete sham." Other critics included Emerson College, New England School of Law and state representative Byron Rushing.
But Pesaturo of the MBTA -- Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority -- suggested the opposition was premature. He maintains that the MBTA has completed only "one percent" of the proposed route's design, and that the authority will work with residents and community groups to retool the plans if needed.
"We're just in the early stages of the public input process," said Pesaturo during an interview after the press conference. "There is ample time for discussion of this proposal."
The MBTA unveiled its most recent Silver Line Phase III proposal in March, several months after tabling an earlier set of proposals in August that Pesaturo acknowledges proved unpopular. The new plan would create a bus portal at Tremont Street and Marginal Road, near Mass Pike Towers, and dig a tunnel under Charles and Boylston streets.
The underground bus route would connect to a station underneath the Boylston Street T stop and link the Silver Line's existing service from Dudley Square in Roxbury to Downtown and service from South Station to Logan Airport and the Boston Waterfront.
The MBTA maintains that the final phase would be crucial to the completion of the entire Silver Line bus route and would allow continuous service from Dudley Square to the airport. Once completed, the line would serve more than 160,000 riders daily, the MBTA says, and relieve congested subway lines and streets.
Pesaturo said that key supporters of the proposal include the Artery Business Community, also known as the A Better City and Congressman Michael Capuano.
But the line's critics say the bus route and its construction are unwanted.
While some called for a reworking of the proposal, others said the entire Silver Line is flawed. Bob Terrell, a longtime activist with Lower Washington Street Taskforce, said the bus line should be scrapped and converted to light rail. Members of the Roxbury Neighborhood Council echoed the call for light rail instead of the currently used buses that stretch up to 60 feet in length.
Pesaturo indicated that light rail is out of the question, and called the Silver Line "the most popular bus route in the MBTA system. It's very clear that people are satisfied with the service and that most people do not care if it's on steel or rubber as long as it's safe, reliable and frequent, and that's what the Silver Line is."
In Chinatown, however, there is another concern. Many fear that the construction of the Phase III portal at Tremont Street would push out residents and businesses indefinitely from the Mass Pike Towers apartment complex. To build the portal as planned, two buildings at the residential towers would need to be demolished, according to the MBTA. When asked about plans to relocate the residents and businesses of those buildings, Pesaturo said: "Those are questions that would be answered if it ever came to that." When pressed further, he said: "Those are things that we can talk about at length as the process moves along."
The critics of the bus route plan said they timed Monday's press conference to show to federal officials that the proposal is opposed by many in the community.
In August, the MBTA will apply for funds from the Federal Transit Administration, or FTA, to help pay for the Phase III project. After the previous set of proposals submitted last year proved unpopular, the MBTA pulled an earlier application for funding, and it hopes to get approval for this round.
Pesaturo appeared to downplay this year?s application to the FTA.
"We're just looking to get a thumbs up (telling us) that we're headed in the right direction from the FTA," said Pesaturo.
He declined to disclose the amount the MBTA is seeking from the FTA or to give a cost estimate for the Phase III project as it now stands.
When asked why the MBTA plans to step up the community process for the proposal after seeking federal funding instead of before, Pesaturo said the MBTA has already met with "dozens" of interested community groups and that it is waiting until the proposal is "formalized.?
I think that this plan could only go forward if they can somehow replace those subsidized housing to somewhere else. Anyway, I hope this project will go through. I also hope that instead of the Silver Line being a BRT, it should become a light rail. Silver Line buses clogs up the road along Washington Street especially in the area from DT to Chinatown where the road is really narrow.
e) tunnel with the silver line couldn't be used to add light rail service to the waterfront and South Boston when the demand picks up.