Immediate Release - Oral Argument Scheduled for Nov. 9

The Appeals Court has set the date of the hearing in the Arborway Committee, Inc. v. Executive Office of Transportation.

Join us for a day in court for the the residents of Boston and the metro-region.

Tuesday, Nov. 9, 9:30 a.m.

Massachusetts Appeals Court

John Adams Courthouse

3 Center Plz # 7

Boston, MA 02108-2003

For directions and handicap accessibility, click here.

Legal Update

On February 13, 2007, the Arborway Committee, Inc., and 12 Jamaica Plain and Mission Hill residents sued the Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation and the Department of Public Works alleging breach of a written memorandum of understanding requiring restoration of electric streetcar service to Jamaica Plain.

In response to the suit, the state defendants filed s motion for summary judgement contending that the suit was filed after the statute of limitations had expired.  In opposition to that motion, the Arborway Committee contended, among other things, that having utilized the environmental review provisions of the agreement and the regulations to delay restoration, the state defendants legally cannot now claim that the suit was filed too late.

On May 27, 2009, the superior court judge allowed the state defendants’ motion and thereafter dismissed the suit on that basis.  On July 25, the Arborway Committee and the other plaintiffs timely filed a notice of appeal to the Massachusetts Appeals Court.

The Arborway Committee's initial brief on appeal was filed in the Appeals Court on February 12, 2010.  The state defendants’ brief on appeal was filed on May 14, 2010, and the Arborway Committee reply brief was filed in the Appeals Court on June 18, 2010. 

The appeal will not be decided until sometime after a three-judge panel of Appeals Court judges hears oral argument by the attorneys on the issues raised by the briefs.

Those oral argument have now been scheduled by the Appeals Court, see above. 

Please join us on:

Tuesday, Nov. 9, 9:30 a.m.

Massachusetts Appeals Court

Mass transit, the Big Dig and the Gubernatorial Race

By David Rohrlich

An unfortunate feature of the current gubernatorial campaign in Massachusetts is that mass transit has received very little attention.

In fact by a perverse twist, the one issue which receives a lot of attention and could lead to a broader discussion of transit is never permitted to do so.  The reference here is to the Big Dig, which comes up frequently, but only as a battering ram for use by some of the candidates against others. While it is certainly important to recall the colossal expense and mismanagement of that project, the recollection is incomplete unless we also remember that in making its Big Gift to the highway lobby, the Commonwealth entered into a legally binding agreement to make several much smaller

gifts to the public.

A faithful reader of this blog probably does not need to be reminded that among other things, the agreement obligated the Commonwealth to restore E line service to Jamaica Plain. In any case, here we are twenty years later, and the highway lobby has received everything it wanted and much more while the public has received virtually nothing. The latter half of the story has been largely ignored by the media.

This is not to say that mass transit has been completely ignored in the gubernatorial debates.

For example, residents of the south coast are evidently interested in a rail connection to neighboring towns and the Hub.  Online editions of SouthCoastToday.com and the Sun Chronicle offer a discussion of the proposed commuter rail line to New Bedford.

But it is significant that these articles appeared in local newspapers from southeastern Massachusetts rather than in, say, the Boston Globe.  The assumption seems to be that transit is only of parochial interest:  the E line is of interest only to Jamaica Plain, the Washington Street corridor only to Roxbury, the Green Line extension only to Somerville and Medford.  It may be that particular lines are primarily of local interest, but the issue of mass tranist in general should be of interest not only to Jamaica Plain, Roxbury, Somerville, and Medford but also to Springfield and Pittsfield and Northampton and North Adams.

Why is there no passenger rail service connecting various parts of the state? What contribution could a restoration of trunk lines and light rail make to the state's economy, and how could it improve our environment and help us prepare for an era of petroleum scarcity?

These questions need to be raised in the context of the gubernatorial race.

Don't forget to vote on November 2nd.