The Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation (EOT) last month identified buildings that could come down to make way for extension of the T's Green Line through Medford.
The U-Haul building at 600 Mystic Valley Parkway; the 196-200 Boston Ave. office buildings, which include some research facilities of the Cummings Foundation; and the Elizabeth Grady Headquarters at 222 Boston Avenue could potentially be affected by construction on the subway addition.
But the proposal to extend the Green Line to Route 16 relies on federal funding that is itself contingent on the cost-effectiveness of the project.
The location of the U-Haul building makes it the prime candidate for seizure, according to Ken Krause, a member of the Medford Green Line Neighborhood Alliance (MGNA), a local citizens' group.
"The U-Haul building is the last building before Mystic Valley Parkway [Route 16], and that's where they envision the actual station going," he told the Daily.
The upcoming planning processes will deal in more detail with the status of the other two buildings.
"We are still in the very early planning stages and have identified the structures that we believe, given the current level of engineering we have, … are in the envelope of space," Kate Fichter, the deputy director of the project at the EOT, told the Daily. "But we are far, far away from knowing anything for sure."
The EOT has only identified a small part of the 200 Boston Ave. building for possible demolition, but it is possible that the entire building may need to be relocated due to its proximity to the rails.
"[The EOT] has indicated they need at least part of it, because the tracks run really close to the back of it," Krause said.
Commuter rail tracks can generally be shifted to make room for the Green Line tracks. In this case, though, the tracks cannot move because they are near a bridge over Route 16, according to Krause.
"Basically, there is less room to work with," he said. Planners are attempting to figure out if the route can pass through that section "without taking the entire building and the entire property," he added.
Demolishing the entire building at 200 Boston Avenue would have a negative effect on Medford, according to Krause.
"Because a lot of people work there, it provides real estate tax revenue to the City of Medford," Krause said, adding that planners have not envisioned anything for the property that would generate revenue, such as paid parking.
The removal of the building could become an expensive proposition that would involve the relocation of the businesses currently housed there, Fichter said.
"One of the criteria for the project for federal funding is cost-effectiveness," Krause said. "In my view, if you don't have to buy a big building, if you can save the cost of that, your cost effectiveness will be better."
An alternative to removing the building involves using one track instead of two around the U-Haul building, a proposal the MGNA has backed.
"It's just a matter of a couple hundred yards, so the impact on the building would be much less," Krause said.
But the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is concerned that carrying out this proposal could compromise service if a train breaks down and blocks the track, according to Krause.
In response, Krause said that a train could easily be pushed off to a side track if it broke down.
Other citizen initiatives have sprung up in response to the extension.
"There's right now the beginning of some pretty serious grassroots planning processes underway in Somerville to consider what should happen along the train line," said Justin Hollander, a Tufts assistant professor of urban and environmental policy and planning.
Hollander called for a more proactive planning process on the part of state officials that took less of a top-down approach. He said that the public should have more of a chance to weigh in on the potential impacts of decisions like the possible relocation laboratories and offices.
"If the city was to undergo a planning process whereby they decided what the key priorities and visions were for the Green Line to make a positive contribution to the community … [the relocation of the laboratories and offices] wouldn't seem like a big deal," he said. "But essentially, that hasn't happened."
The Green Line extension project is currently undergoing an environmental review, which should be completed within the next couple of months, according to Fichter.
This stage looks at the impact the project will have on the natural environment as a result of factors like car, pedestrian and bicycle traffic.
The next stage of the project is the preliminary engineering phase, which according to Fichter will take another 18 months to two years to complete.
