Orange Line

The Green Line Extension and Assembly Square T-Stop may be at risk if inadequate funding is provided. Make your views known. More…

Here’s a recent photo showing the Orange Line tracks temporarily diverted while the station construction gets underway.

Agenda includes two buildings on block 2 of Assembly Square. One is a food-service building and the other is a mixed-use building with retail and office uses. More…

If a grocery store is built at the IKEA site, it should be on the first floor of a multi-story, high-value R&D building, otherwise the location is underutilized.

Federal Realty has acquired the IKEA site and is considering placing a grocery there. We need to preserve upper-story R&D space at the site as well as choose a good grocer.

Rutherford Avenue and Sullivan Square are just over the Somerville line in Boston. Somervillians who use the Sullivan Square T-Stop should come to the meeting and participate.

Agenda includes resolving two continued Special Permits for parking in Assembly Square.

Key issues are responding to IKEA’s withdrawal from Assembly Square and monitoring the City’s progress with the Comprehensive Plan.

The MBTA and the MassDOT are holding their board meeting in Somerville City Hall. Agenda likely includes the Green Line Extension and the Assembly Square Orange Line T-Stop.

Agenda includes report on whether covenants with IKEA and FRIT apply to future purchasers of the IKEA site at Assembly Square. Approval of Union Square Revitalization Plan.

I’ve never met an IKEA representative I didn’t like. In negotiations they were honorable, and as companions they were enjoyable. But despite their many virtues, I’m glad they won’t be building a store in Somerville.

Agenda likely includes a Special Permit for parking lots in Assembly Square blocks 5 and 6 to serve retail in blocks 1, 3, 4.

Agenda includes the Assembly Square riverfront park along the Mystic between Rt. 28 and the Winter Hill Yacht Club.

Plan includes money for extending the Somerville Community Path from Cedar Street to Lowell Street and money for the Green Line Extension to College Avenue and Union Square. To show support for these plans, send e-mail to publicinformation@ctps.org.

Fare hikes and service cuts hurt economically depressed areas first. Somerville will only get its transportation needs met if the legislature adequately funds the MBTA and other mass transit.

The air quality determination governs whether the state is required to do all of the Green Line Extension or whether it can quit early.

Somerville will only get its transportation needs met if the legislature adequately funds the MBTA and other mass transit.

For more information, see MPO Transportation Im

Somerville Patch: “Bus Diversions on Orange Line to Begin in June”
Construction on the new Assembly Square Orange Line stop, which has already begun, will lead to periodic bus diversions on the subway line beginning in June and lasting until the statio…

Assembly Row and Assembly Square T-Stop development has started. It’s time to move ahead with the Transportation Mitigation Plan.

Managing neighborhood impacts is necessary for the success of the Assembly Square T-Stop project.

Ceremony marks the start of retail/residential construction of Phase I of the Assembly Square mixed-use development.

Agenda includes adopting the Somerville Comprehensive Plan.

Agenda includes Assembly Square Order of Conditions (OOC) for changes to Block 3 and to Shore Drive in Ten Hills.

Click to view maps of the area and station as well as 3D renderings. You can also download the Nov 2011 MassDOT presentation (PDF).

The CIP includes the Green Line Extension and the Assembly Square T-Stop.

This is the regular meeting of the Mystic River Watershed Steering Committee. This committee, sponsored by the Federal EPA, works to improve water quality and environmental conditions in the Mystic River watershed. Agenda not available (12/4/11).

The Mystic Riverfront Park upgrades are a big part of the improvements to Assembly Square resulting from the Assembly Square PUD.

Agenda includes the acquisition of 258 Somerville Ave. and updates on Assembly Square and Union Square. Note: the Somerville Redevelopment Authority does not have a web page.

Agenda includes an update on the Order of Conditions for Assembly Square and a new fence for the Bike Path Community Garden.

It is very important that the public catch up with the Assembly Square T-stop project progress and decisions.

Agenda includes Assembly Square Blocks 1 and 4 and sewer and drain work in Ten Hills. This work helps fulfill the financial conditions needed for the success of the Assembly Square DIF and iCubed programs.

Melissa Hoffer of the Conservation Law Foundation will speak on the role of legal advocacy in environmental protection and restoration.

Agenda includes a special permit for dry boat storage at 74 Foley Street in Assembly Square, possibly for boats from the Winter Hill Yacht Club.

Agenda includes Assembly Square Block 3, a Special Permit for two levels of retail and restaurant, including a 12-screen cinema, with residential above. This development helps fulfil the financial conditions needed for the success of the Assembly Square DIF and iCubed programs.

Agenda includes public hearings on proposed developments at Blocks 1 and 4 of Assembly Square. These developments help fulfill the financial conditions needed for the success of the Assembly Square DIF and iCubed programs.

Agenda likely includes Assembly Square mixed use buildings on Block 3, including a cinema. These proposals help fulfill the financial conditions needed for the success of the Assembly Square DIF and iCubed programs.

Agenda will likely include the Avalon Bay developments at Blocks, 1, 3, and 4 and may include prospects for further development.

We will present a summary of the City’s almost finished Comprehensive Plan, followed by discussion. The plan is the product of over two years of work by the Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee.

The group will review the zoning change maps, begin to review the comprehensive plan draft document, and create a map describing future transportation improvements.

The Boston MPO is a Federally-mandated organization responsible for conducting transportation planning for the Boston region. Among other documents, it produces a yearly Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP), which allocates funding for transportation improvements. A project must be included in the TIP to receive Federal funds. The Green Line Extension has been omitted from the 2012-2015 TIP. As a result, Massachusetts is in danger of losing its Federal transportation funding.

Agenda includes Assembly Square mixed use buildings on Blocks 1, 3, and 4, including a cinema. These proposals help fulfill the financial conditions needed for the success of the Assembly Square DIF and iCubed programs.

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.

The agenda includes a staff update on transportation plans for the Boston region, and most likely includes postponing the Green Line Extension another 5 years.

Check out the conceptual proposals and make your views known. Written comments submitted will be posted on the DCR website.

According to articles in the Boston Globe, Somerville Journal, Somerville Patch, and Boston Herald this week, WalMart wants to open “a grocery store” at the site of the defunct Circuit City next to Home Depot…

This is a good chance for Somerville residents to help improve our river frontage in Assembly Square.

The agenda includes a (continued) public hearing for final approval of the PUD for Assembly Square Block 10 and a hearing for constructing a restaurant on the site. The 378-390 Somerville Avenue hearing is being continued to July 14.

The agenda includes annotating city maps with possible locations of transformational districts, neighborhood infill districts, and other land use categories.

The agenda includes a (continued) public hearing for final approval of the PUD for Assembly Square Block 10 and also a hearing for constructing a restaurant in Assembly Square.

Among other business, the agenda includes reviewing the PUD for Assembly Square Block 10 and a proposed restaurant in Assembly Square.

The agenda includes a public hearing for final approval of the PUD for Assembly Square Block 10 and also a hearing for constructing a restaurant in Assembly Square.

This is one of the final hurdles for the long-awaited Orange Line T-Stop at Assembly Square. Please support this development. A T-Stop at Assembly Square will unlock the potential of the site and make possible what Somerville has wanted for more than a decade.

The agenda includes as item #8 (“Request of MassDOT Legal and Planning Departments to authorize the execution of a Public Funding Agreement for the construction of the Assembly Square Station on the Orange Line”).

This is the final discussion and vote on the DIF bond issue. The City should issue these bonds only with a signed commitment to the “best effort” of Federal Realty to bring R&D/office into Assembly Square.

The agenda is to discuss the Assembly Row Bond issue and a petition by 60 Somerville residents to ensure that development financed by the Assembly Row DIF yield jobs for Somerville residents.

This is a presentation and panel discussion on how to finance public transportation in Massachusetts. Paying for public transportation has proved a critical problem in the current economic and political environment.

The Committee is calling this meeting to further discuss the Assembly Row DIF Bond issue. If Assembly Row is not developed to produce a high enough tax base, the city could end up repaying this bond from general funds.

This is a continuation of the 3/31/11 Assembly Row DIF Bond hearing. If Assembly Row is not developed to produce a high enough tax base, the city could end up repaying this bond from general funds.

Convened to discuss the Assembly Row DIF Bond proposal. If Assembly Row is not developed to produce a high enough tax base, the city could end up repaying this bond from general funds.

This is a public meeting of the Somerville Conservation Commission to review and accept the MBTA Assembly Square Station Order of Conditions.

Among other business, this meeting will hold a public hearing on the Special Permit with Site Plan Review for the Assembly Square self-storage facility, 50 Middlesex Avenue.

Among other business, this meeting will deal with the proposed self-storage facility at 50 Middlesex Ave. in Assembly Square.

If Assembly Row is not developed to produce a high enough tax base, the city could end up repaying this bond from general funds.

The master plan for the self-storage facility at 50 Middlesex Avenue in Assembly Square is to be presented.

Among other business, this meeting will deal with the proposed self-storage facility at 50 Middlesex Ave. in Assembly Square, and with changes to the design of 100 Temple St. (St. Polycarp Redevelopment).

These meetings provide an important opportunity to weigh in on the direction Somerville is setting for its future.

The Governing Body determines how much of the tax increment from DIF districts is used for district improvements and how much is returned to the city general fund.

At this meeting the group will continue to build maps showing future development districts in Somerville.

At this meeting the group will continue to build maps showing future development districts in Somerville.

At this meeting the group will continue to build maps showing future development districts in Somerville.

At this meeting, the committee will work toward a consensus on the Goals and Actions and begin work on land use mapping.

If implemented as planned, this DIF will very likely result in developments that only cover debt service on the DIF bonds themselves. The rest of Somerville will pay for the city services required by those developments.

There is now a $63 M gap in infrastructure funding for Assembly Square. The Orange Line T-Stop and the rest of the development is in jeopardy unless we close the gap by a combination of stopgap funding and a $25 M DIF in Assembly Square.

The current issues are the status of the Green Line Extension and Community Path, extending the Green Line to Route 16, and funding the Assembly Square Orange Line T-Stop.

Large Retail Cluster Parking: Proposal is to double the parking requirement for large retail (> 25,000 s.f.). Staff believes that because Somerville has little parking available, the effect will be to discourage suburban format in Somerville. Developers would have to build parking garages, which is expensive.

The agenda includes the following:

* Change to the zoning ordinance to allow self-storage in Assembly Square
* Changes to the zoning ordinance to revise the procedures for reviewing Special Permits, Special Permits with Site Plan Approval, and variances
* Changes to the zoning ordinance to revise the parking requirements for large scale retail
* Change to the zoning ordinance to allow Historic Carriage House as a use in certain districts
* Special permit to allow Federal Realty to exceed signage size requirements in Assembly Square.

This is STEP’s regular monthly meeting. At this meeting STEP is likely to discuss:

* Current status of the Green Line Extension
* Current efforts to extend the Green Line to Route 16
* Current status of funding for the Assembly Square Orange Line T-Stop

This is the regular planning meeting of the Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee. At this meeting, the group will finish reviewing the policies and actions.

Somerville’s citywide development for the next twenty years will be shaped by the comprehensive plan. This is a public meeting; any citizen is entitled to observe.

This meeting will likely deal with the proposed change of zoning to allow self-storage in the Assembly Square Planned Unit Development. There may be a public hearing in joint session with the Land Use Committee.

The Mystic View Task Force will hold its annual meeting at 1:30 P.M., Saturday, September 25, 2010, at the Third Life Studio, 33 Union Square, Somerville.

A change-of-use ordinance is being submitted to the Board of Aldermen to allow self-storage/wholesale storage in locations in Assembly Square near I-93 and not suitable for better development. I understand that the goal is to allow a developer to place a self-storage facility at the foot of Foley Street, replacing a truck storage facility near the current (poorly-maintained) pedestrian underpass from Assembly Square to the Stop & Shop on Mystic Avenue. The underlying urban design problem is how to use a development in this location to establish a pedestrian-friendly gateway to Assembly Square, given (a) the planned Assembly Square T-Stop at the head of Foley Street and (b) a proposed Foley Street connection under I-93 to East Somerville.

Land use planning is the primary function of municipal government. This ordinance provides an ideal opportunity to observe and participate in the public land use process, from Ordinance to Planning Board special permit.

Public input is needed on accessibility, waterfront and water activities design, and pedestrian and bicycle access along Foley Street.

This is the sixth in the 8-part Free Webinar Series on Designing for Pedestrian Safety being given by the Federal Highway Administration and the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center. Pedestrian and bicycle safety is essential to the success of the new Assembly Square roadways and Orange Line T-Stop and around the new Green Line stops.

This is the fifth in the 8-part Free Webinar Series on Designing for Pedestrian Safety being given by the Federal Highway Administration and the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center. Pedestrian and bicycle safety is essential to the success of the new Assembly Square roadways and Orange Line T-Stop and around the new Green Line stops.

This is the regular meeting of the MBTA Rider Oversight Committee, which provides recommendations to the MBTA to improve service quality. Somerville’s use of public transit, already high, will increase as the Green Line Extension and Assembly Square Orange Line stop come in.

This is the regular monthly meeting of the Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee. The Strategic Planning staff is drafting the Comprehensive Plan. Somerville’s citywide development for the next twenty years will be shaped by the comprehensive plan.

This forum features Richard Devylder, Senior Advisor for Accessible Transportation to the Obama Administration. Accessibility is an important requirement for the new Green Line Extension and Orange Line T-Stops.

This is the regular meeting of the Access Advisory Committee to the MBTA, which provides input to the MBTA on issues of handicapped access to public transit. The MBTA is under court order to improve handicapped access to MBTA facilities. Somerville’s need for accessible public transit is bound to increase as the Green Line Extension and Assembly Square Orange Line T-Stop come in.

This meeting was devoted entirely to passing the proposed modifications to the Preliminary Master Plan for Assembly Square. The Planning Staff had asked Federal Realty to generalize the use mix from Office and R&D because Somerville zoning has a very narrow definition of Office use. Federal Realty widened the definition to include all Somerville uses under special permit. The Planning Board stated that in the absence of any opposition, they would waive the reading of the 70 conditions and voted to approve the changes to the PUD. Some citizens present had expected to have a period for written comment before the vote.

This meeting was held at 6:30 at the State Transportation Building, around the corner from the Boylston T-Stop. A half-dozen officials from the Federal transportation authorities were present, along with some translators (never called upon) and a half-dozen or so members of the MPO. Only about a half-dozen members of the public showed up, all from Somerville.

The Boston MPO must be certified by the federal government in order for the Boston area to receive federal funding for transportation improvements. Citizen input is an important part of this process.

This is the fourth in the 8-part Free Webinar Series on Designing for Pedestrian Safety being given by the Federal Highway Administration and the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center. Pedestrian and bicycle safety is essential to the success of the new Assembly Square roadways and Orange Line T-Stop and around the new Green Line stops.

This is the third in the 8-part Free Webinar Series on Designing for Pedestrian Safety being given by the Federal Highway Administration and the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center. Pedestrian and bicycle safety is essential to the success of the new Assembly Square roadways and Orange Line T-Stop and around the new Green Line stops.

This is the second in the 8-part Free Webinar Series on Designing for Pedestrian Safety being given by the Federal Highway Administration and the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center. Pedestrian and bicycle safety is essential to the success of the new Assembly Square roadways and Orange Line T-Stop and around the new Green Line stops.

This is the first in the 8-part Free Webinar Series on Designing for Pedestrian Safety being given by the Federal Highway Administration and the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center. Safe pedestrian and bicycle access is essential to the success of the new Assembly Square Orange Line T-Stop and new Green Line stops.

At this meeting we will discuss the progress of the infrastructure improvements, Ch 91 licenses, and a proposed amendment to the Assembly Square Master Plan. This meeting is important because it provides a last chance to weigh into the development process at Assembly Square.

Construction starting right now on roads and infrastructure at and around Assembly Square. IKEA not to start construction until after Spring 2011. Planned improvements to Kensington Ave. pedestrian crossing from Stop & Shop to Assembly Square.

This meeting is important because MPO’s plans determine where to spend billions of dollars of Federal money in Eastern Massachusetts.

This meeting is important because it gives citizens a chance to provide feedback to the City on how things are going in their neighborhoods.