MGNA: Medford Green Line Neighborhood Alliance

An announcement from the Green Line Extension project team:

Green Line Extension Friends –

We want to thank everyone who attended Wednesday’s land use planning workshop in Cambridge. Your contributions made the evening a great success.

The next workshop will be held on Saturday, June 12, from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM, Somerville - Argenziano School Cafetorium. The workshop will be part of a SomerVision open house, and discussion will focus on public ideas for the areas around future Green Line stations in Somerville and feedback on Somerville’s visioning and comprehensive planning process.

More information on this workshop can be found on the Green Line Extension website at www.mass.gov.greenlineextension. For language or access accommodations, please contact Regan Checchio, Regina Villa Associates, 617-357-5772 ext. 14 or rchecchio@reginavilla.com at least one week before the event.

We are also pleased to announce that a public meeting on the Green Line Extension Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) will be held on Wednesday, June 30th at 6 PM at the Somerville High School Auditorium. The meeting will provide an opportunity for members of the public, agency representatives, and other project stakeholders to learn about changes to the project and ask questions. The FEIR will be available on June 16, 2010. We will be sending out more information about the FEIR shortly.

The project website has been updated with some new material that may be of interest to you. Please click here and scroll down to the Relevant Documents section to see the new items.

Former Green Line Extension Project Working Group member Paul Cote has kindly shared a link to a personal project: Google Earth / Sketchup Greenline Station Workshop. As Paul says, “This project brings together the station plans from the Draft Environmental Impact Report and puts them in the context of a three-dimensional model of terrain and the buildings within 1000 feet of the Green Line extension. Detailed models for each station site can be downloaded and edited using the free Google Sketchup 3D modeling tool. Develop and share your own ideas about the station sites and their surroundings! The site will be updated as more people share their ideas.”

More information about the Green Line Extension project, including information about upcoming public meetings, can be found at www.mass.gov/greenlineextension. Should you have any questions, please contact Kate Fichter, Project Manager for the Green Line Extension, at katherine.fichter@state.ma.us. Kate has also started blogging about the project at the MassDOT blog.

Thank you for your interest and participation. Best wishes for a happy and safe Memorial Day.

The Green Line Extension Project Team

For transportation news and updates visit MassDOT at our website: www.mass.gov/massdot, blog: www.mass.gov/blog/transportation, or follow MassDOT on twitter at www.twitter.com/massdot.

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) has been performing field work in support of the extension of the MBTA Green Line to Somerville and Medford. Staff members have been undertaking field surveys, noise and vibration testing, and soil borings. The data collected will be used to advance the design of the Green Line Extension Project. For more information about the field work, please click here.

Please do not be concerned if you see people performing the work described here; they are authorized to be in and around the MBTA right-of-way.

Should you have any questions or concerns about these activities, please contact Kate Fichter, Project Manager for the Green Line Extension, at 617-973-7342 and katherine.fichter@state.ma.us.

Boring Program:

Weeks ending 5/14/10 and 5/21/10:

- Within the MBTA right-of-way (Yard 8) from Red Bridge in Cambridge to Washington Street in Somerville
- Bridge borings at Medford Street and Walnut Street in Somerville
- Bridge borings at College Avenue in Medford
- Boring typically occurs between 7:00 AM and 3:30 PM on weekdays.

Field Survey:

Weeks ending 5/14/10 and 5/21/10:

- Intersections along O’Brien Highway and Cambridge Street between East Street and Third Avenue in Cambridge
- Abutting property research and survey along the Lowell Commuter Rail Line in Somerville

We will be sending these messages on a periodic basis, to keep you informed about the progress of the field work. Please share this information with your neighbors.

Thank you for your interest and cooperation.

The Green Line Extension Project Team

The Green Line Community Corridor Planning Project is inviting the public to workshops to brainstorm on how the seven new stations on the Green Line extension will integrate into the surrounding neighborhoods.

The workshops will include discussion of three stations that will serve Medford residents — at Ball Square, at College Avenue, and at Mystic Valley Parkway.

The workshops will kick off on Friday, May 21, with an evening session devoted to an update on the Green Line project, and an overview of the workship process.

On Saturday, May 22, a five-hour workshop will be focus on each of the proposed station areas, with professional designers and facilitators guiding the process.

Then on Wednesday evening, June 2, a summary of ideas and design concepts will be presented.

All sessions will be held at the Prospect Hill Academy cafetorium, 17 Franklin Street, in East Somerville.

Please click here for a flyer with more details about the workshops. (Note: These workshops are separate from the land use workshops being held over the next few weeks by the Mass. Department of Transportation.)

The Community Corridor Planning (CCP) Project is a grassroots, non-profit coalition committed to resident participation in planning for a livable, equitable Somerville. CCP is a partnership of Groundwork Somerville, the Somerville Transportation Equity Partnership (STEP), the Somerville Community Corporation (SCC) and the Somerville Community Health Agenda.