by David Dahlbacka in All Ages, Beat Reporter, City Finances, Development and Zoning, Environment and Open Space, Events, Neighborhoods and Squares, Orange Line, Transportation
Posted on August 29, 2011 at 10:58 pm
Last Modified on September 11, 2011 at 3:38 pm
| August 8, 2011 | to | September 13, 2011 |
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FY 2012-2015 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) Comment Period
Open: Mon. Aug. 8 2011
Closed: Tue. Sep. 13 2011
e-mail: publicinformation@bostonmpo.org
The comment period is open for the updated transportation improvement proigram, including projects scheduled for implementation throughout the Boston region over the next four years.
The Green Line Extension, a legal obligation of the Commonwealth, has been dropped from the 2012-2015 TIP and delayed until 2018. This not only deprives Somerville of long-needed transit access, it jeopardizes the state’s access to Federal transportation funding.
Paper comments to:
David Mohler
Chair, Transportation Planning and Programming Committee
Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization
State Transportation Building
10 Park Plaza, Suite 2150
Boston MA 02116-3968
Copy e-mails to :
“Mr. Jerome Grafe Mass Department of Environmental Protection” jerome.grafe@state.ma.us
“Ms. Christine Kirby Mass Department of Environmental Protection” christine.kirby@state.ma.us
“Mr. David Mohler, Chair, Boston MPO Planning & Programming Committee” David.mohler@state.ma.us
“Ms. Katherine Fichter, MassDOT Office of Transportation Planning” Katherine.fichter@dot.state.ma.us
“Boston MPO Staff” publicinformation@ctps.org
“Ms. Anne Arnold, Manager, EPA Region 1 Air Quality Planning Unit” arnold.anne@epa.gov
“Mr. Donald Cooke, Conformity and mobile monitoring, EPA Region 1 Air Quality” cooke.donald@epa.gov
“Ms. Rosemary Monahan, EPA Region 1 Smart Growth Coordinator” monahan.rosemary@epa.gov
“Ms. Pamela Stephenson, MA Division Administrator, Federal Highway” pamela.stephenson@dot.gov
“Mr. Michael Chong, Federal Highway Planning and Environ. Program Manager” michael.chong@dot.gov
“Ms. Mary Beth Mello, Regional Director, Federal Transit Region 1″ william.gordon@dot.gov
For more information, see:
- Somerville Transportation Equity Partnership (STEP)
- MPO Transportation Improvement Plan Process
- Green Line Extension to Somerville Project
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The comment period for reinstating the Green Line Extension to the TIP runs out Tuesday, Sept. 13. I have added a list of e-mail addresses to copy your comments to.
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Following is a copy of the e-mail I just sent to the MPO, with copies to the others noted above:
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To: David Mohler, Chair Transportation Planning and Programming Committee
publicinformation@bostonmpo.org
Subj: Please don’t remove the Green Line Extension to Somerville and Medford from the 2012 TIP.
I am writing this e-mail to ask you not to remove the Green Line Extension to Somerville and Medford from the 2012 Transportation Improvement Plan.
Somerville is cut by five MBTA or Commuter Rail lines, only one of which stops within its borders. The city has been waiting for rapid transit for at least 40 years. Over two hundred people came out the night of the Red Sox World Series win to show their support for the Green Line Extension, and support remains strong. Should Somerville be ignored yet again?
Areas near the current Commuter Rail lines suffer the effects of air pollution from the diesel trains. Health effects are always local; improvements elsewhere do not help. Furthermore, many areas near the Commuter Rail lines are environmental justice zones that have historically received the lion’s share of negative environmental impacts and the ant’s share of the benefits. Should this pattern continue?
I am a member of the Somerville Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee, which is preparing a citywide comprehensive plan that includes development zones oriented around transportation nodes, and specifically around the new Green Line stops. Our planning for the next twenty years revolves around the Line Extension. Should this effort be wasted?
Finally, may I remind your that the Green Line Extension is a court-ordered mediation for local air-quality problems caused in part by the increase in I-93 traffic from the Big Dig. The Commonwealth has been taken to court more than once on this subject and has lost every time. Why go through that again?
Please do the right thing. Reinstate the Green Line Extension into the 2012 Transportation Improvement Plan.
David Dahlbacka
25 Hancock Street
Somerville MA 02144
dd@whyisthisimportant.net
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To: David Mohler, Chair Transportation Planning and Programming Committee
Please do not omit the Green Line extension from the 2012 TIP. Somerville has been waiting for this essential expansion of the transit system for decades. This community suffers the effects of miles of transportation infrastructure which serves the region’s commuters but bypasses our residents. It is a matter of fundamental fairness to fulfill this commitment to our citizens.
In addition it is a sound regional investment for the commonwealth. Adding these links to the transportation network will open acres of prime land for development in the urban core. Kenmore Square is finally built out and new businesses looking to locate near the colleges and hospitals will find land in short supply. Inner belt and Union Square, and other areas on the Green Line extension can provide valuable real estate for expansion of job creating industries.
As we struggle to address the environmental impacts of sprawl development and the car-dependent lifestyle it promotes, we should be embracing infrastructure improvements like the Green Line extension. When I was the Special Advisor on Sustainable Development in the Office for Commonwealth Development, we worked to focus policies on getting high quality neighborhood development around transit stops. Somerville has already at least one project moving forward based on assumptions about the green line. Many others will be encouraged by advance planning for the station areas along the Green Line. These are exactly the kind of developments we need to be building now.
The Green Line extension is the most important transit extension in the commonwealth at this time. It is more cost effective than the South Coast rail, serves a constituency in place and in need right now and has been promised for decades. PLease move it forward – now.
Yours truly,
Anne Tate
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