The incoming Class of 2014 might not remain on the Hill long enough to see plans to build a T subway station adjacent to Tufts' Medford/Somerville campus come to fruition, as new delays have pushed back the expected date of completion for the project by almost a year.
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) filed a report in July estimating that the extension of the Green Line into Medford and Somerville, originally slated for 2014, will not be finished until October 2015 at the earliest.
The delay, which stemmed from the relocation of a planned maintenance facility for the new stations, prevents the state from fulfilling its legal obligation to complete the project by the end of 2014 and will thus require a temporary solution to environmental concerns.
The facility was originally going to be built at a site known as "Yard 8" in the center of an industrial area of Somerville called the Inner Belt. MassDOT officials in May chose a new location, "Option L," located east of the original site.
The first location would have hindered economic development in Somerville, according to Ellin Reisner, the president of Somerville Transportation Equality Partnership, a community group active in the Green Line Extension project.
"The way the state wanted it would have made it impossible for cars to access that area, and you have to have that kind of access for development," Reisner told the Daily.
Reisner explained that despite some Somerville residents' vocal opposition to Yard 8, planning for the site continued until the state intervened in May.
"When they proposed the location there was a lot of resistance," she said. "It's only recently that the [Massachusetts] Secretary of [Energy and] Environmental Affairs told them they needed to look at alternatives."
Ken Krause, a representative of another community group, the Medford Green Line Neighborhood Alliance, told the Daily that MassDOT worked with Somerville community members to come up with a compromise.
While the setback is disappointing for many residents, Krause said, he sees it as a sign that the project is being done thoroughly.
"Although it caused a delay, it was a very positive development that they found a new site for the maintenance facility, because the former site was just not acceptable from the standpoint of Somerville residents."
Yet the delay will have other repercussions for Green Line planners.
The Green Line Extension Project is part of the state's legal obligation under the federal Clean Air Act to offset the environmental impact of the Big Dig, a mega-highway project in Boston that began in 1991 and lasted over 15 years.
Because the state was required under the federal Clean Air Act to complete the extension by the end of 2014, a temporary fix, or mitigation, to realize those environmental benefits is necessary while the project is delayed.
"The mitigation needs to be targeted at improving air quality for that 10-month period of delay," State Rep. Carl Sciortino (D-Medford/Somerville), whose district includes parts of Tufts' Medford/Somerville campus, told the Daily.
Krause said he expects the alternative measures to involve the reduction of emissions from city buses. Kate Fichter, the Green Line Extension's project manager, said that a plan for the mitigation will not be finalized for several years.
"It's premature to talk in specifics about that before then," Fichter told the Daily. "They don't need to have mitigations in place until December 2014, which is when the extension would have opened."
Sciortino (LA '00) hopes the mitigation will include a legal obligation for the state to follow through on its original plan to extend the Green Line to a station near Route 16/Mystic Valley Parkway. While planners have not completely abandoned the prospect of a Route 16 station, current plans mark a station at College and Boston Avenues as the Green Line's new terminus.
He said that the state has committed to bringing the Green Line to the Medford Hillside neighborhood, and that a terminus at College Avenue does not fulfill that commitment.
"This is an issue that we will continue to grapple with," Sciortino said.
While plans for the Route 16 station remain debated, Krause called the delay for the College Avenue extension unsurprising, considering that the project has already been hindered by a number of setbacks.
In particular, Krause said that MassDOT's June filing of the Final Environmental Impact Report was 10 months behind schedule. The report, approved by the state in late July, outlines potential environmental effects of the project.
Krause said that while federal approval of the report is still needed, getting state approval was important for moving the project forward.
"It was a big milestone," he said. "This is an important development because [now] a lot of the specifics regarding station design will be finalized."
Design working groups conducted by MassDOT and consisting of representatives from the surrounding neighborhoods of each proposed station have already begun to meet to discuss the needs of riders, according to Reisner. They have worked with MassDOT to organize community workshops for each station.
"This is the part where the neighbors can put their opinion forward on every level of design to ensure it will be the best fit for each neighborhood," Krause said.
Accessibility to the stations by bicycle or foot is one of the central issues in designing the stations, according to Sciortino.
Krause agreed. "One important thing that will determine the success or failure of these stations is how easy it is for people to get to them," he said.
