MGNA: Medford Green Line Neighborhood Alliance

The Community Corridor Planning (CCP) Project and the Green Line Extension Design Working Group invite the public to a walk around the locations for the proposed Ball Square and College Avenue Green Line Stations in Medford on Saturday, December 4.

The Ball Square walk will begin at 10 a.m. Meet on the westbound side of the Broadway Bridge at the corner of Boston Avenue.

The College Avenue walk will begin at 11:15 a.m. Meet on the College Avenue bridge that spans the commuter rail tracks.

These walks are part of a series of site visits designed to get ideas and feedback from residents, business owners, designers, etc. that were proposed at a CCP community station design workshop this past May.

According to Ellin Reisner, co-chair of the Design Working Group, “The goal of the station walks is to prepare people interested in expressing what is important for the station designs for the GLX at the upcoming MassDOT Design Workshops.

“We hope that people will look at station access by pedestrians, bicyclists, buses, drop off, bike parking needs, lighting, station approach, character (materials, design), safety, connectivity, etc.

“We encourage people to bring cameras to document things that they see on the walks to help with design recommendations.”

CCP partners and MBTA/MassDOT staff will have preliminary station diagrams for the station location as well as copies of designs developed by community members at the CCP Design Workshop in May.

Download a flyer for the walks.

The Green Line Extension Design Working Group invites the public to a walk around the location for the Gilman Square Green Line Station on Monday, Nov. 22, at 3 p.m.

Meet outside Somerville City Hall, 93 Highland Ave., next to Somerville High School.

This is the first of several station area walks to get ideas and feedback from residents, business owners, designers, etc. that were proposed at a community station design workshop this past May.

According to Ellin Reisner, co-chair of the Design Working Group, “The goal of the station walks is to prepare people interested in expressing what is important for the station designs for the GLX at the upcoming MassDOT Design Workshops.

“We hope that people will look at station access by pedestrians, bicyclists, buses, drop off, bike parking needs, lighting, station approach, character (materials, design), safety, connectivity (especially to Community Path) etc.

“We encourage you to bring cameras and we will provide a small station area map and paper too write down your comments.  Bring your cameras to document things that you see on the walk to help with design recommendations.”

Download a Gilman Square walk flyer.

Other proposed (but not yet confirmed) workshop dates are Dec. 4 at 10 a.m. for the Ball Square and College Avenue Stations; December 18 at 10 a.m. for Washington and Union Square stations; and January 8 at 10 a.m. for Lowell and Gilman. The DWG will contact the East Cambridge Planning Team about setting up a station walk for the Lechmere Station area, and Metropolitan Area Planning Council about a station walk in conjunction with its planning around the proposed Route 16 station.

The next DWG Design Principles Subcommittee meeting will be held Monday,  Dec. 6, at 6 p.m. Location is tentatively set as VNA Community  Room, 259 Lowell St., Somerville.

A new report assessing the impact of the 2009 transportation reform law credits the overhaul with helping the state save nearly $130 million over the first year, largely through a restructuring of highway debt and a shifting of MBTA employees to the state’s health plan.

The overhaul of the transportation bureaucracy, touted by legislative leaders and Gov. Deval Patrick as a signature accomplishment of the governor’s first term, resulted in the elimination of the Turnpike Authority and the consolidation of most transportation agencies under a single umbrella.

Estimated at the time to produce $6.5 billion in savings over 20 years, the law has led to an estimated $129.5 million in recurring and one-time savings over the first year.

“Cost savings are a critical part of our reform efforts, demonstrating our commitment to the public that transportation projects and funding can be maintained appropriately,” the report states. “This document is the definitive statement on year one efforts.”

The report, titled “Transportation Reform – Year 1”, was released Tuesday by the Department of Transportation on its website a day after it had been delivered during a public meeting to the newly formed Transportation Advisory Committee.

Last week MassDOT also released its first Annual Report.

Source: State House News Service