MA Appeals Court Rules on Green Line Restoration

By Tobias Johnson

As Boston transit watchers recall, the Arborway Committee argued our appeal for the restoration of E-Line streetcar service in Boston before the Appeals Court in November.  On Jan 25, 2011 a decision was handed down in our suit against the EOT.  You can find a PDF of the Memorandum and Order online here.

In their written opinion, the three justices who comprised the panel declined to agree with us that a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by the Exec. Office of Transportation (EOTC, parent of the MBTA) and the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) in 1990 had been extended by the Department of Environmental (DEP) environmental regulations (CMR 7.36) promulgated in 1991 which were born out of the MOU through a well understood public process.

They upheld the lower court dismissal of the suit on the grounds that it was not filed in a timely manner - statute of limitations.  Unlike the lower court ruling, however, this opinion made sense, although we certainly don't agree with it.  The Appeals Court decision demonstrated the justices' understanding of the complex case and their competence in writing a clear and concise opinion.

Although the decision is a disappointment and metro-Boston has lost an irreplaceable link to the central subway system in an obvious and egregious pattern of decades of MBTA disinvestment, the goal of restoring Green Line service to Jamaica Plain remains as valid and as good as ever from a policy, transportation, environmental, and energy standpoint.

Our cause is justified.

I'm reminded of the Rule of St Benedict, a copy of which I have with a series of meditations entitled - "Always We Begin Again."  The Arborway Committee now moves to the next stage and the Go Green campaign continues.  We will continue to uphold the principles of equity, energy efficiency, and economy in our advocacy.

Always we begin again.

We will continue to raise public awareness around transportation generally and will set the stage for future efforts that will achieve the restoration of this valuable public transit project.

Once again, T Examining Transit Options in Dorchester-Mattapan-Roxbury

By Franklyn Salimbene

I am continually amazed by the ineptitude of City and MBTA officials when it comes to community transit planning and by the obtuseness of some residents and businesses when it comes to life in the urban core.

The Dorchester Reporter reported on its website last week that the T is planning three community meetings to discuss a study project for transit strategies in the Dorchester-Mattapan-Roxbury corridor. The Reporter posted the following article, which appears below in part, and on its website.

The $291,000 project, which will focus on areas between the Red and Orange Lines on the MBTA that are not within a half-mile walk of stations on either line, comes after state lawmakers representing the three neighborhoods called on transportation officials to pull back on the proposal for an express busway along Blue Hill Ave. Community members raised concerns about the proposal, dubbed “Route 28X,” because they said it would tear up the street for the busway and eliminate parking spaces.

The reason the City and the T are in a fix about what to do in the heavily transit-dependent Blue Hill Avenue corridor is because they did not adequately discuss the options with the residents and businesses when the 28X project was first proposed in 2009.

Further, the City provided no proactive support for the idea of forcing automobiles to share Blue Hill Avenue with a transit right of way. A transit right of way for the Avenue would not be a novelty, however, as there was one in place for streetcars until the late 1950s.

In urban transit planning the T needs to do its homework, the City needs to provide a vision and support for transit projects, and community residents need to consider life in their neighborhoods if there are no attractive transit alternatives to the automobile.

Perhaps the City and the T will get if right this time—although I doubt it.