Green Line Extension

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Green Line Extension (GLX)
Green Line Extension.svg
Overview
StatusUnder construction
OwnerMassachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
LocaleCambridge, Somerville, and Medford, Massachusetts
TerminiUnion Square (D)
Medford/​Tufts (E)
Stations7 under construction; 1 proposed
Service
TypeLight rail rapid transit
SystemGreen Line (MBTA subway)
History
Planned openingDecember 2021 (Union Square Branch)
May 2022 (Medford Branch)
Technical
Line length4.3 miles (6.9 km)
Number of tracks2
Track gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Electrification600 V DC overhead catenary[1]:11.1–1
Operating speed50 miles per hour (80 km/h)[1]:1–5
Route map

Legend
MBTA.svg  Lowell Line 
 Route 16
proposed
 Medford/​Tufts
2022
 Ball Square
2022
 Magoun Square
2022
 Gilman Square
2022
 East Somerville
2022
 Union Square
opens 2021
MBTA.svg  Fitchburg Line 
Lechmere
closed 2020
 Lechmere
opens 2021
MBTA Commuter Rail to North Station
Green Line (MBTA) to Science Park
This diagram:

The Green Line Extension (GLX) is a construction project to extend the light rail Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Green Line northwest into Somerville and Medford, two inner suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts. The project is expected to open in 2022 at a total cost of $2.28 billion. Total ridership on the 4.3-mile (6.9 km) extension is estimated to reach 45,000 one-way trips in 2030.

The project begins at the north end of the Lechmere Viaduct, where the former ground-level Lechmere station is being replaced by an elevated station on an extended viaduct. The two branches split north of Lechmere, with the Union Square Branch following the MBTA Commuter Rail Fitchburg Line right of way to Union Square station in Somerville. The Medford Branch follows the Lowell Line right-of-way to Medford/Tufts station with four intermediate stations. A new vehicle maintenance facility and storage yard is located in the Inner Belt District.

An extension of service beyond Lechmere was considered as early as 1922, with the first formal proposal in 1926. Despite appearing in other regional plans throughout the 20th century, the state did not commit to the project until 1990. Planning began in 2006 with a projected completion date of 2014; this was delayed to 2015, then to 2018. A groundbreaking was held in 2012, with several early construction elements over the next two years. The federal government committed $996 million of the $2.2 billion cost in 2014.

In 2015, with projected costs increased to $3.3 billion, the project was placed on hold. A revised plan, with more modest stations and other value engineering, was submitted in 2016 and approved in 2017. The main $1.08 billion design-build contract was issued in November 2017, with several optional items like platform canopies and a larger vehicle maintenance facility included. Construction began in 2018, with the old Lechmere station closed in May 2020. The new station and Union Square Branch are expected to open in December 2021, with all stations open by May 2022.

Route and design[edit]

Construction of the Red Bridge viaduct, which connects the two branches with the viaduct to Lechmere and to the maintenance facility, in 2021

The GLX is primarily located in Somerville, northwest of downtown Boston, with its northernmost portion in Medford and its southernmost portion in the East Cambridge section of Cambridge. The GLX begins at the north end of the Lechmere Viaduct in East Cambridge, where a short elevated section formerly led to the surface-level Lechmere station at Lechmere Square. The new elevated GLX viaduct continues northwest for about 0.6 miles (1.0 km), paralleling the O'Brien Highway. A new elevated Lechmere station is located on the viaduct on the east side of Lechmere Square.[1]:1–2 Two branches split at an aerial flying junction on the Red Bridge viaduct in the Inner Belt area:

The Vehicle Maintenance Facility (VMF) is located in the Inner Belt area adjacent to the MBTA Commuter Rail Maintenance Facility. It includes a four-track shop building, ten storage tracks with capacity for about 43 light rail vehicles (LRVs), a loop track, and a building for operator reporting and breaks. Yard leads connect the VMF to both branches near the Red Bridge flyover.[1]:1–6

The GLX is fully grade separated, with no road grade crossings, though there are level crossings for passengers at East Somerville and Ball Square stations.[3][4] Construction of the project included the replacement or modification of three rail bridges and seven road bridges.[1]:8.3–2 Maximum speed on the extension is 50 miles per hour (80 km/h), except for 10–20 miles per hour (16–32 km/h) limits for the Union Square Branch at Red Bridge.[1]:1–5 As with the existing Green Line subway and D branch, the GLX has automatic block signaling with color light signals.[1]:11.5–1 The signal system is designed for 5-minute headways on each branch, with 21⁄2-minute headways through Lechmere.[1]:1–4

Stations[edit]

The seven GLX stations are accessible; all have elevators between street level and platform level except East Somerville, which has a ramp from street level.[4] The stations have fare vending machines, but not faregates.[1]:12.3–1 Most of the stations have island platforms 20–22.5 feet (6.1–6.9 m) wide and 225 feet (69 m) long – enough to fit three current LRVs or two future Type 10 LRVs – with provision to extend them to 300 feet (91 m) in the future. The platform at Lechmere is 32–35 feet (9.8–10.7 m) wide and 355 feet (108 m) long – enough to fit two current two-car trains – as it would be difficult to later extend the elevated platform.[4][1]:12.1–5 The platforms are 8 inches (200 mm) high for accessible boarding on current LRVs, and can be raised to 14 inches (360 mm) for level boarding with Type 9 and Type 10 LRVs.[1]:12.1–5

City Neighborhood(s) Station Services Planned opening[2]
Cambridge Northpoint / East Cambridge Lechmere D, E December 2021
Union Square Branch
Somerville Union Square / Ward Two Union Square D December 2021
Medford Branch
Somerville East Somerville East Somerville E May 2022
Winter Hill / Gilman Square Gilman Square E May 2022
Magoun Square Magoun Square E May 2022
Somerville / Medford Ball Square Ball Square E May 2022
Medford South Medford / Tufts University Medford/​Tufts E May 2022
Somerville West Somerville Route 16 E Proposed

Prior proposals[edit]

Early transit services[edit]

The Boston and Lowell Railroad (B&L) opened through South Medford, Somerville, and East Cambridge in 1835. Local stops were gradually added, beginning with Milk Row in Somerville later that year.[5][6] The Charlestown Branch Railroad opened through Somerville and Charlestown in 1842; it was soon extended as the Fitchburg Railroad.[7]:87 In 1870, the B&L built a cutoff from Lake Street to Somerville Junction, which allowed Lexington Branch brains to enter Boston on the B&L.[8] The Massachusetts Central Railroad began service in 1881; it used most of the 1870-built cutoff to reach Boston.[9][10]:216 It was leased in 1886 by the B&L, which was in turn leased by the Boston and Maine Railroad (B&M) in 1887 as its Southern Division.[7]:55 The Fitchburg was leased by the B&M in 1900 as the Fitchburg Division.[7]:88 By the early 20th century, the Southern Division had stations at Medford Hillside and Tufts College in South Medford; North Somerville, Somerville Junction, Winter Hill, and Prospect Hill in Somerville; and East Cambridge. Stations were located on the Lexington Branch at North Cambridge, West Somerville, and Somerville Highlands. The Fitchburg Division had stations at Cambridge, Somerville, and Union Square.[10][7]:108

Horsecar service by the Cambridge Railroad in Somerville began in 1858 with lines from Union Square to Sullivan Square and to Elm Street (now Davis Square) via Somerville Avenue.[11][12]:205 The Cambridge Railroad was granted permission in 1860 to run tracks over the Craigie Bridge from East Cambridge to Boston, joining with its existing line on Cambridge Street from Harvard Square, though service did not begin until around 1862.[13][14]:14 The Somerville Avenue line was extended from Union Square to Boston in 1864, joining the existing line at Lechmere Square in East Cambridge.[12]:205 The Cambridge Street line was converted to electric streetcar service by Cambridge Railroad successor West End Street Railway in 1891; the Somerville Avenue line and an 1888-built line to Davis Square via Highland Avenue were electrified and extended to Clarendon Hill in 1893–1895.[12]:202, 205

The West End was leased to the Boston Elevated Railway (BERy) in 1897.[15]:35 The three streetcar lines running through Lechmere Square began running into the Tremont Street subway upon its September 3, 1898 opening.[14]:3 Slow and unreliable service on the surface streetcar lines resulted in congestion in the subway.[14]:5 The Lechmere Viaduct and Causeway Street elevated opened on July 1, 1912, creating a grade-separated route from Lechmere Square to the subway and bypassing the Cragie Bridge.[14]:4 However, the surface lines through Somerville continued to be unreliable, and multiple-car trains were needed to increase subway capacity. On July 10, 1922, the BERy opened Lechmere station as a transfer point. Passengers on the Harvard Square and Clarendon Hill surface lines transferred to two-and-three-car subway trains, bringing rapid transit-style service to Lechmere.[14]:5[15]:44

Early proposals[edit]

See caption.
See caption.
Map showing the 1926-proposed extensions northwest from Lechmere (at left)

In 1922, with the downtown subway network and several radial lines in service, the BERy indicated plans to built three additional radial subways: one paralleling the Midland Branch through Dorchester, a second branching from the Boylston Street subway to run under Huntington Avenue, and a third extending from Lechmere Square northwest through Somerville.[16] (The Dorchester line was eventually built as an extension of the Cambridge–Dorchester Tunnel later that decade, while a shorter Huntington Avenue subway opened in 1941.)[17]

The Report on Improved Transportation Facilities, published by the Boston Division of Metropolitan Planning in 1926, was the first comprehensive transit plan for the Boston area since the 1890s.[18] The core recommendation of the report was a conversion of the Tremont Street subway to Maverick Square–Warren Street, Brighton and Lechmere Square–Brigham Circle, Roxbury rapid transit routes. Several suburban rapid transit extensions were proposed as secondary priorities; one would run in a dedicated median in the Northern Artery from Lechmere to Winter Hill, alongside the B&M Southern Division tracks to Somerville Junction, then follow the cutoff (by then called the Fitchburg Cutoff) to North Cambridge. Several branches of that line were listed as possible extensions: North Cambridge to Bedford via the Lexington Branch, North Cambridge to Waltham via the Fitchburg mainline, and Somerville Junction to Woburn via the Southern Division and Woburn Branch.[18][19]

Variations on this plan were proposed several times during the 1930s. A 1935 proposal by a citizen's group called for a subway extension from Haymarket or Bowdoin surfacing in the North Station rail yards, then following the Southern Division and the Fitchburg Cutoff to Alewife Brook Parkway in North Cambridge. "High-speed trolley connections" would run to Arlington Heights and Belmont. A new expressway would have taken over the Causeway Street elevated and Lechmere Viaduct, then largely paralleled the new transit line to connect with the existing Mohawk Trail expressway at Alewife Brook Parkway.[20] A 1938 proposal by Somerville mayor John M. Lynch called for an extension of the East Boston Tunnel from Bowdoin to the Lechmere Viaduct, a subway from Lechmere to Washington Street, and use of the Southern Division, Fitchburg Cutoff, and Lexington Branch to reach Arlington Center.[21] A 1939 state resolve directed the Metropolitan District Commission to study that proposal.[22]

Transit service in Somerville declined during this period due to the Great Depression and competition from autos, many using the 1927-completed Northern Artery.[23]:1[24] East Cambridge, Prospect Hill, and the three Fitchburg Cutoff stations closed in 1927.[25] Winter Hill closed in the 1930s, Union Square and Somerville in 1938, and Somerville Junction in the 1940s.[26][27] The Harvard Square–Lechmere route (now route 69) was converted to trackless trolley in 1936.[12]:202 By 1940, six streetcar routes remained in Somerville: route 87 Clarendon Hill–Lechmere via Somerville Avenue, route 88, Clarendon Hill–Lechmere via Highland Avenue, routes 89 Clarendon Hill–Sullivan Square and 101 Salem Street–Sullivan Square on Broadway, and two routes on the Fellsway running through East Somerville.[23]:134 Routes 87 and 88 were converted to trackless trolley in 1941; following heavy wartime ridership, routes 89 and 101 were converted in 1947.[28] [23]:139 Service on the Fellsway, which included Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway service to Stoneham until 1946, lasted until 1955.[23]:148[29]

Map of the 1945 extension proposals

In 1943, the state legislature appointed a commission headed by Arthur W. Coolidge to plan for the future of transit in the Boston region. In 1945, a preliminary report from the Coolidge Commission recommended nine suburban rapid transit extensions – most similar to the 1926 plan – along existing railroad lines.[23]:16[30][31] The proposed extension from Lechmere to Woburn followed the same alignment as the 1926 plan, albeit using an extended elevated structure rather than a subway north of Lechmere.[30] A short subway segment was to be built to avoid the grade crossings at Winchester Center.[32] Annual ridership on the 9.18-mile (14.77 km) extension was estimated to be 11.8 million based on B&M and BERy ridership.[33] The 1947 final report modified some routes; the Woburn route was to be extended an additional 2 miles (3 km) to North Woburn.[34][32]:18 Cost was estimated at $3.627 million in 1941 dollars (equivalent to $49 million in 2019).[32]:13 The Coolidge Commission also laid the groundwork for the 1947 transition of the BERy to public ownership as the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA).[23]:17

In 1958, the B&M ended service to Medford Hillside, Tufts College, and North Somerville – the last three local stops south of West Medford – due to declining ridership.[35][36] Route 101 was converted from trackless trolley to diesel bus in 1959; routes 69, 80 (not a former streetcar line), 87, 88, and 89 were all converted in 1963, leaving buses as the only remaining transit in Somerville and South Medford.[37] The 1962 North Terminal Area Study, claiming that the 1959 Highland branch conversion showed that PCC streetcars were inadequate for suburban rapid transit service, recommended that the elevated Lechmere–North Station segment be abandoned. The Main Line (now the Orange Line) was to be relocated along the B&M Western Route; it would have a branch to Woburn via the Southern Division, which would in turn have a branch to Arlington.[38]

MBTA era[edit]

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) was formed in 1964 as an expansion of the MTA to subsidize suburban commuter rail service, as well as to construct rapid transit extensions to replace some commuter rail lines.[7]:15 In 1965, as part of systemwide rebranding, the Tremont Street subway and its connecting lines became the Green Line.[17] The 1966 Program for Mass Transportation, the MBTA's first long-range plan, listed an approximately 1-mile (1.6 km) extension from Lechmere to Washington Street as an immediate priority. New Hampshire Division (Southern Division) passenger service would be cut back from North Station to a new terminal at Washington Street. A second phase of the project would extend Green Line service from Washington Street to Mystic Valley Parkway (Route 16) or West Medford.[39][18]

The 1972 final report of the Boston Transportation Planning Review listed a Green Line extension from Lechmere to Ball Square as a lower priority. The cost of the extension was estimated as $26 million (equivalent to $160 million in 2019).[18][40] Extension past Lechmere was listed as low priority in a 1974 plan due to the addition of Davis station to the planned Red Line Northwest Extension.[18] (Davis opened in 1984 as the first MBTA subway station in Somerville.[17]) An extension to Tufts University was listed as a proposal in the 1978 and 1983 updates to the Program for Mass Transportation.[18]

In 1980, the MBTA began a study of the "Green Line Northwest Corridor" (from Haymarket to Medford) with three area of focus: replacement of the Causeway Street elevated, replacement of Lechmere station, and extension beyond Lechmere.[41]:293 An evaluation report for the extension was published in 1981 and updated in 1984. Alternatives recommended for further evaluation included a Green Line extension to Tufts, a Green Line extension to Union Square, and a busway to Tufts and Davis.[42][41]:308 Later in the 1980s, the MBTA made plans to relocate Lechmere station as a precursor to an extension. A new elevated station would be located on the east side of the O'Brien Highway, with a new vehicle storage yard and maintenance facility to the north.[41]:301 The project was not pursued due to lack of available funding.[43]

Green Line Extension planning[edit]

Original plan (2006–2015)[edit]

Map of Phase I construction
The Medford Street bridge in Somerville is to be rebuilt as part of Phase I construction.
Somerville mayor Joseph Curtatone speaks at the groundbreaking

In 1990, Massachusetts agreed to extend the Green line through Somerville to offset the additional burdens in traffic and pollution within the city due to completion of the Big Dig project.[44] In 2005, Massachusetts announced plans to begin planning the extension.[45] The extension was expected to increase ridership on the Green Line.[46]

The Green Line Extension project lagged behind schedule, and in 2005, the City of Somerville and the Conservation Law Foundation filed a lawsuit.[47] In 2006, this litigation resulted in a multimillion-dollar state investment in planning for the Green Line Extension, including a completion date of 2014.[48] Potential stations were announced for the first time in May 2008.[49]

In May 2010, MassDOT and the City of Somerville reached an agreement to build a planned maintenance facility.[50] In June 2010, the Department of Transportation announced that due to budget limitations, the portion beyond College Avenue would be part of a second phase.[51] In July 2010, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation announced that the new service was expected to be operational in October 2015.[52]

In May 2011, the MBTA acquired the property and trackage rights for the relocated Lechmere station from Pan Am Railways;[53] in return, Pan Am received the existing station for future development.[54] An extension of the Union Square branch to Porter was also proposed.[55] In August 2011, MassDOT announced that the opening of the Extension would be postponed to fall 2018.[53] Completion of the Extension to College Avenue near Tufts University would be delayed to 2020, and the start date to work on a terminus at Mystic Valley Parkway was deferred until 2018.[53][56] The delays were due to difficulties with land acquisition and concerns about cost controls and financing.[57]

On June 11, 2012, the Federal Transit Administration gave approval to the Green line extensions.[58] In August 2012, the City of Somerville, MassDOT, and the MBTA reached an agreement about the Union Square station.[59] Through the Somerville Redevelopment Authority, the City acquired $8 million worth of land for the station and granted the MBTA a permanent easement.[59] In return, the MBTA and MassDOT agreed to pay for cleanup costs at the site, begin construction by the spring of 2014 and open the station no later than early 2017.[59] In October 2012, the Somerville Board of Aldermen approved the Union Square Redevelopment Plan and authorized an $8 million bond, including $6 million to purchase the land and $2 million for cleanup and station planning.[60]

On April 18, 2014, Governor Patrick signed a $12.7 billion bonding bill, which included $1.3 billion for the Green Line Extension, as well as $2.3 billion for South Coast Rail and $325 million for South Station expansion.[61][62] In December 2014, the FTA said it intended to pay $996 million of the extension's $2.2 billion costs. The remainder of expenses would be paid by the state.[63]

In August 2015, the MBTA disclosed that the project would cost approximately $3 billion, a $1.08 billion increase from previous estimates.[64] In December 2015, the MBTA ended its contracts with the project's general contractor, project manager, and designer, among others, and announced that while components of the project under construction would continue, no further work would be awarded or started.[65]

Phase 1 construction[edit]

Phase I consisted of the reconstruction of the Harvard Street Railroad Bridge, the Medford Street Railroad Bridge, and the demolition of the MBTA facility in Cambridge.[66] The MBTA opened bid solicitations for Phase I in July 2012 and construction began that year.[66][67] The work was estimated at $15.3 million[66] and was expected to last until 2014.[68]

Additional phases[edit]

In September 2013, the state secured funding to move forward on the construction of two new Green Line stations in Somerville and a new Lechmere station.[69] Construction was expected to begin in 2014.[69] In 2013, the MBTA awarded the contract to White Skanska Kiewit (WSK).[70][71]

Later phases included the construction of a new Green Line maintenance facility,[72] the construction of the remainder of the Medford Branch, with stations at Gilman Square, Lowell Street, Ball Square, and Medford/​Tufts.[73][74] Plans also included retaining and noise abatement walls, as well as more bridge, signal, and utility work.[75][76] The state intended to seek $557 million in federal New Starts money for later phases.[77]

Revised plan (2016–2017)[edit]

In May 2016, the Interim Project Management Team submitted a redesigned project to the MassDOT Board of Directors and the MBTA Fiscal & Management Control Board, which then voted to advance the Green Line Extension Project and got Federal Transit Administration (FTA) approval of the redesigned project.[78][79]

The new plan included cost saving elements, including stations having open platforms with several shelters, the elimination of escalators, redundant elevators, fare gates and other additions were to be eliminated at most stations.[78][80] The Vehicle Maintenance Facility was reduced by half.[80] Three bridges, at Lowell, Medford and School Streets, that were to be replaced were retained and the College Avenue Bridge wouldn't be widened.[80]

The extension of the Somerville Community Path was to be trimmed back to terminate at Washington Street, Somerville, instead of Water Street in Cambridge. The new path design shifts from the west side of the track to the east side and then back again between Central Street and School Street and has fewer entrances from cross streets. South of Washington Street, bike commuters would have to use city streets, including the McGrath Highway, to reach the Charles River bike path network and downtown Boston.[81]

Contract award[edit]

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) approved the modified $2.3 billion plan on April 4, 2017.[82] The first federal funds for the project were received in July 2017.[83]

The contact was rebid with a provision for the optional restoration of six of the elements deleted in the 2016 plan. On November 17, 2017, the MBTA selected GLX Constructors (a consortium of Fluor Enterprises, the Middlesex Corporation, Herzog Contracting Corporation, and Balfour Beatty Infrastructure) to build the project. The consortium's base bid was $954 million—well below the state "affordability limit" of $1.319 billion. The total project cost will be $1.08 billion from the state, $996 million from the federal New Starts program, and several contingency items; resulting in a project hovering between $2.2 billion and $2.3 billion. The total cost encompasses all six optional elements, including canopies and additional elevators at stations, public art, a full-size vehicle maintenance facility, and the full extension of the Somerville Community Path to Cambridge, but at a narrower, 10-foot, width..[84][85][86]

Construction[edit]

On December 21, 2018, the first of 24 new Green Line vehicles, purchased as part of the GLX project, went into regular passenger service. The shells and frames for the low-floor CAF cars are fabricated in Spain, with final assembly in Elmira, NY.[87]

Construction reached 20% completion in November 2019; it was over 50% completed by October 2020.[88][89] Plans prior to construction called for the Union Square Branch to be through-routed with the E Branch, and the Medford Branch to be through-routed with the D Branch.[90][91] However, in April 2021, the MBTA indicated that these would be reversed, with the D going to Union Square and the E to Medford/Tufts.[2]

When the station designs were simplified in 2016–17, faregates were removed from the plans. The MBTA expected AFC 2.0 (the Charliecard replacement system) to be fully in place by the time the GLX opened, with passengers able to board and tap their farecards at any door on trains. However, delays to the AFC 2.0 system means the GLX will open prior to all-door boarding being implemented. In April 2021, the MBTA indicated that the stations would have validators on the fare vending machines, with proof of payment enforcement in effect.[92]

By March 2021, the Union Square Branch was expected to open in October 2021, followed by the Medford Branch in December 2021.[93] By the beginning of June 2021, 65% of track was in place, as were 8 of 9 signal houses.[94] Total project cost is estimated to be $2.28 billion: $0.996 billion from the federal government and $1.28 billion from the state. Daily ridership on the extension is projected to be 45,000 by 2030.[95]

In June 2021, the MBTA indicated an additional delay, due in part to effects from the COVID-19 pandemic, under which the Union Square Branch is planned to open in December 2021, but the Medford Branch will not open until May 2022.[96] [97] The first test train was moved to the new VMF in August 2021 to begin testing of the Union Square Branch. Medford Branch testing is expected to begin in late 2021 or early 2022. The Community Path extension will open along with the Medford Branch in May 2022, as it is used for construction access.[98]

Criticism[edit]

Terminus location[edit]

Main article: Route 16 station

In 2008, the EPA ratified the Massachusetts State Implementation Plan (SIP) to include an amendment to the 1994 agreement that substituted the planned "the Green Line extension to Ball Square/Tufts University" with an "extension to Medford Hillside...[and] spur to Union Square".[99] Accordingly, the MBTA and MassDOT surveyed potential termini at the intersection of Winthrop Street and Boston Avenue, and also at Route 16 (Mystic Valley Parkway), but these locations were abandoned by the agencies, citing budgetary limitations. Instead, the Green Line Extension was retracted by a mile to College Avenue, which is encompassed by Tufts University.[100]

The plan to terminate the GLX at College Avenue drew criticism from residents in Medford and Somerville, who questioned the advantages and legality of the move.[101] A petition by the Medford Green Line Neighborhood Alliance to extend the Green Line argued that a Route 16 terminus would "provide Green Line access to thousands of people within a 10-minute walk," be "conveniently located on two major thoroughfares with existing bus connections," and "serve two large portions of Medford and Somerville designated as Environmental Justice Communities".[102]

In January 2012, the MBTA and MassDOT issued a response to questions from the public. The document stated that "the position of MassDOT and the MBTA on the configuration of the Green Line Extension is supported and has been reinforced by multiple regulatory agencies overseeing the SIP, including MassDEP." In concluding these comments, the MBTA stated that it would not respond to any further questions regarding College Avenue satisfying the Medford Hillside requirements of the SIP.[103]

New and old viaducts at Lechmere. Lechmere station closed on May 23, 2020 to allow the old viaduct to be partially demolished and connected to the new line north.

Construction of the Route 16 station was planned from Boston MPO funds for 2016–2020 after the rest of the line was complete. However, after the cost overrun this funding was reallocated to the main project. Route 16 is still in the state's plan, with environmental review proceeding, as of 2017.[104][105]

Lechmere closure[edit]

During construction, the northern section of the Lechmere Viaduct is being removed and the elevated section of the line extended to a large flyover bridge crossing the Fitchburg Line tracks. The 1922-built Lechmere station is being replaced with an elevated station across the street. The work was expected to require closing the viaduct (and thus cutting service back to North Station) for 17 months—the third major disruption of Lechmere service since 2004—causing opposition to the closure in Cambridge.[106] In November 2019, plans were revised to reduce this to 11 months.[107] Lechmere station closed for Green Line service on May 24, 2020; it continues to be used as a transfer point between MBTA bus routes and the Lechmere–North Station shuttle buses.[108] Demolition of the northern section of the Lechmere Viaduct began on June 6, 2020.[109]

Gentrification[edit]

Rents and property prices began to increase in the mid-2010s – before full construction even began – leading to concerns about gentrification and displacement.[110][111]

References[edit]

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  3. ^ "Green Line Extension: Cambridge to Medford, Massachusetts" (PDF). Federal Transit Administration. December 2017.
  4. ^ a b c "Public meeting boards". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. November 19, 2019.
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  12. ^ a b c d Humphrey, Thomas J. (August 2020). "Origin and Development of the Fixed-Route Local Bus Transportation Network in the Cities and Towns of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority District as of December 31, 1973: Revised Edition" (PDF). NETransit.
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  15. ^ a b Clarke, Bradley H.; Cummings, O.R. (1997). Tremont Street Subway: A Century of Public Service. Boston Street Railway Association. ISBN 0938315048.
  16. ^ "Three New Subways Planned". Boston Globe. June 25, 1922. p. 71 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ a b c Belcher, Jonathan. "Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district" (PDF). Boston Street Railway Association.
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  21. ^ "Rapid Transit Line Proposed from Boston to Arlington". Boston Globe. December 29, 1938. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ "Chapter 21: Resolve providing for an investigation by the Division of Metropolitan Planning relative to improving transportation facilities for the city of Somerville and the town of Arlington". Acts and resolves passed by the General Court in the year 1939. Secretary of the Commonwealth. 1939. p. 804 – via Internet Archive.
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  25. ^ "Five B. & M. Stations Will Be Abandoned". Boston Daily Globe. March 16, 1927 – via Newspapers.com. (second page) open access
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