Green Line Extension Lechmere to Medford

It's official! Somerville and Medford are getting Arborwayed:

“(The administration) is currently moving both the Green Line extension to Somerville and Medford, and the Red-Blue Line connector projects,…through the environmental review process, and will continue to aggressively pursue all project milestones,” Cohen wrote.

Then, the letter gets more interesting (I’ll let you read between the lines): “As a point of clarification,” Cohen wrote. “the legal commitment (as part of the Big Dig) is to the required air quality benefits, and not to individual transit projects. Should (the administration) anticipate that it will be unable to meet any of the project deadlines…it will move expeditiously and in good faith to implement alternative measures for achieving the necessary air quality benefits.”

Let's face it, the way politics work, the suburbs are always going to win out over the city. When's the last chance Somerville wasn't voting solidly Democratic? Weld-Cellucci-Swift-Romney spent their money in the suburbs because that's where they got all their votes; Patrick will spend his money in the suburbs because that's where the swing voters are.

When Somerville and Medford become swing towns, then the Green Line will get built.

Arborway wrote:It's official! Somerville and Medford are getting Arborwayed:

“(The administration) is currently moving both the Green Line extension to Somerville and Medford, and the Red-Blue Line connector projects,…through the environmental review process, and will continue to aggressively pursue all project milestones,” Cohen wrote.

Then, the letter gets more interesting (I’ll let you read between the lines): “As a point of clarification,” Cohen wrote. “the legal commitment (as part of the Big Dig) is to the required air quality benefits, and not to individual transit projects. Should (the administration) anticipate that it will be unable to meet any of the project deadlines…it will move expeditiously and in good faith to implement alternative measures for achieving the necessary air quality benefits.”

That's news to the CLF. . .

The original 1990 agreement committing to the individual transit projects:
http://www.clf.org/uploadedFiles/CLF/Pr ... tments.pdf

p.5, Section A wrote:All of the improvements listed in Appendix A to this agreement shall be completed. EOTC shall make every effort to complete each improvement by the last day of the calendar year stated as the year of completion in Appendix A. EOTC shall begin the operation of each new facility or service by the last day of the calendar year following the stated year of completion.

Emphasis mine. EOTC is the Executive Office of Transportation and Construction, BTW. Signatures are on p.12, and the commitments are on p.13 in Appendix A. Try not to cry when you see the originally scheduled completion dates.

The state is allowed to substitute alternative projects, but on VERY SPECIFIC AND LIMITED TERMS THEY CANNOT UNILATERALLY SET...see CLF FAQ document here:
http://www.clf.org/uploadedFiles/CLF/Pr ... 0flyer.pdf)

The state can substitute alternative projects for the existing transit commitments only if the existing commitments are found infeasible and if projects with greater or equal air quality benefits are identified. A proposed substitution project must also provide equivalent air quality benefits in the same location the original project was to have been built. None of the outstanding projects have been determined to be infeasible.

Emphasis mine.

Sounds pretty goddamn specific to individual projects to me. Nowhere in the language can the state voluntarily delay timetables, and projects MUST be ruled infeasible before air quality alternatives can be substituted...and as the CLF notes, no project has been legally deemed unfeasible. That last sentence in the CLF's documentation is the real money quote. Therefore, Cohen is lying out his ass and knows full well that what he's saying does not jibe with the specific language in the agreements, which have been legally upheld several times over. In other words, get ready for yet another lawsuit to get piled onto the ones that are already interminably pending to try to get the state and MBTA to follow the goddamn law. This is so frustrating beyond belief...every time they can force another delay with impunity they just get that much more brazen about immediately pulling the same bait-and-switch again. And I'm really disapointed in Patrick...I thought he was better than this on transit.



CLF memo dated yesterday:
http://www.clf.org/uploadedFiles/SIP_AC ... 9-6-07.pdf

Money quote in that document re: West Medford. . .

While the revised SIP allows the Commonwealth flexibility in how it funds this project, it does not permit the Commonwealth to delay the project without legal consequence.

Emphasis mine. Cue the CLF's and City of Somerville's lawsuits in 5...4...3...2...

I am so glad I moved to New York. This is too ridiculous.

F-line to Dudley via Park wrote:

Arborway wrote:It's official! Somerville and Medford are getting Arborwayed:

“(The administration) is currently moving both the Green Line extension to Somerville and Medford, and the Red-Blue Line connector projects,…through the environmental review process, and will continue to aggressively pursue all project milestones,” Cohen wrote.

Then, the letter gets more interesting (I’ll let you read between the lines): “As a point of clarification,” Cohen wrote. “the legal commitment (as part of the Big Dig) is to the required air quality benefits, and not to individual transit projects. Should (the administration) anticipate that it will be unable to meet any of the project deadlines…it will move expeditiously and in good faith to implement alternative measures for achieving the necessary air quality benefits.”

That's news to the CLF. . .

The original 1990 agreement committing to the individual transit projects:
http://www.clf.org/uploadedFiles/CLF/Pr ... tments.pdf

p.5, Section A wrote:All of the improvements listed in Appendix A to this agreement shall be completed. EOTC shall make every effort to complete each improvement by the last day of the calendar year stated as the year of completion in Appendix A. EOTC shall begin the operation of each new facility or service by the last day of the calendar year following the stated year of completion.

Emphasis mine. EOTC is the Executive Office of Transportation and Construction, BTW. Signatures are on p.12, and the commitments are on p.13 in Appendix A. Try not to cry when you see the originally scheduled completion dates.

The state is allowed to substitute alternative projects, but on VERY SPECIFIC AND LIMITED TERMS THEY CANNOT UNILATERALLY SET...see CLF FAQ document here:
http://www.clf.org/uploadedFiles/CLF/Pr ... 0flyer.pdf)

The state can substitute alternative projects for the existing transit commitments only if the existing commitments are found infeasible and if projects with greater or equal air quality benefits are identified. A proposed substitution project must also provide equivalent air quality benefits in the same location the original project was to have been built. None of the outstanding projects have been determined to be infeasible.

Emphasis mine.

Sounds pretty goddamn specific to individual projects to me. Nowhere in the language can the state voluntarily delay timetables, and projects MUST be ruled infeasible before air quality alternatives can be substituted...and as the CLF notes, no project has been legally deemed unfeasible. That last sentence in the CLF's documentation is the real money quote. Therefore, Cohen is lying out his ass and knows full well that what he's saying does not jibe with the specific language in the agreements, which have been legally upheld several times over. In other words, get ready for yet another lawsuit to get piled onto the ones that are already interminably pending to try to get the state and MBTA to follow the goddamn law. This is so frustrating beyond belief...every time they can force another delay with impunity they just get that much more brazen about immediately pulling the same bait-and-switch again. And I'm really disapointed in Patrick...I thought he was better than this on transit.



CLF memo dated yesterday:
http://www.clf.org/uploadedFiles/SIP_AC ... 9-6-07.pdf

Money quote in that document re: West Medford. . .

While the revised SIP allows the Commonwealth flexibility in how it funds this project, it does not permit the Commonwealth to delay the project without legal consequence.

Emphasis mine. Cue the CLF's and City of Somerville's lawsuits in 5...4...3...2...

F-line, how do see these agreements being enforced by a court? If the MBTA, governor, etc don't want to comply, I'm not sure what legal mechanism exists to force the MBTA to hire contractors, construction crews, etc.

Generally speaking, contract disputes (which this presumably is) are resolved with awarding of monetary damages. Thus, I strongly suspect that if the threat of a lawsuit isn't enough to compel the construction of these projects, I doubt a trial would yield satisfactory results.

I think this a political issue, not a contract one, and octr202 has it exactly right. Until Somerville and Medford start voting Republican, there is no political gain to be had by building the Green Line extension.

I, too, am disappointed in Patrick on this one.

jck wrote:F-line, how do see these agreements being enforced by a court? If the MBTA, governor, etc don't want to comply, I'm not sure what legal mechanism exists to force the MBTA to hire contractors, construction crews, etc.

Generally speaking, contract disputes (which this presumably is) are resolved with awarding of monetary damages. Thus, I strongly suspect that if the threat of a lawsuit isn't enough to compel the construction of these projects, I doubt a trial would yield satisfactory results.

I think this a political issue, not a contract one, and octr202 has it exactly right. Until Somerville and Medford start voting Republican, there is no political gain to be had by building the Green Line extension.

I, too, am disappointed in Patrick on this one.

Transit commitments were upheld in court in 1998 when the Attorney General filed suit against the state. That resulted in an out-of-court settlement with the EOTC, Dept. of Environmental Protection, and CLF as signators mandating the state to complete all projects. Unfortunately, the Attorney General's lawsuit in state court pre-empted the CLF from suing in federal court for violation of the Clean Air Act, which if they prevailed would've really put some fangs behind enforcement of the transit commitments. I am not sure if there have been other suits upheld, but in addition to the '98 court settlement the 1990 agreement was re-ratified several other times over as the state and CLF have mediated disputes amongst themselves over the delays. No monetary damages were sought...the basis of that suit and all of the other pending ones were/are to enforce the deadlines. CLF hasn't been interested in hush money in its settlements and in the times they've revisited and re-ratified the agreement with the state.

The problem here is that the state can delay, delay, delay by dragging out any legal action for years with procedural time-wasters, to the point where the prescribed deadlines are virtually meaningless because they get cover for the delays by slowing down the court with nuisance paperwork. Someday their luck will run out given that the lawsuits are starting to pile up and will eventually have to go in front of a judge of be settled, but that'll probably be years from now as they've been extremely successful gumming up the works during discovery phase. You're going to see that on the Arborway air quality lawsuit that was filed this spring, and you'll see that on the lawsuits that are sure to be filed by the City of Somerville and the CLF on this development. This is the problem when state agencies go to state court...they have lots of legal delay tactics to employ that take a lot of the fear of further violation of the agreement deadlines out of the picture (in large part because the agencies involved are pretty bereft in long-term thinking and only plotting for the few years in the future where they can continue to delay). I really think it's going to take something flagrant enough to land in federal court to really put the fear of God in them to get moving, because fed lawsuit can jeopardize fed funding across the board for transit and highway projects. That's why the Attorney General pounced on the grenade in '98 by pre-empting the CLF fed suit with a state lawsuit. I don't know how genuine the intention was, but it unfortunately provided some cover for the state to keep delaying, and there's always the chance if somebody's got a strong enough case for a fed suit that the Attorney General could try to pre-empt again.

Deval Patrick has either had a change of heart, or has decided to offer Arborwayish promises:

link

Gov. Deval Patrick visited Gilman Square today to announce steps he has taken to extend the Green Line through Somerville and into Medford. He said his administration would try to beat the 2014 completion date required by law.

Over the summer, Patrick proposed the completion date be pushed back to 2016 while his administration went after federal funds that he said could save state taxpayers $300 million. City officials and residents quickly voiced their displeasure with the proposal and today Patrick said the plans are back on track.

He said the Executive Office of Transportation has hired Vanasse, Hangen Brustlin, Inc. to start the required environmental review and preliminary engineering for the project. Also, a project advisory group has been established, aerial surveying work has been initiated and funds have been transferred to the MBTA to begin designing the Green Line cars.

(Emphasis mine)

Arborway wrote:Deval Patrick has either had a change of heart, or has decided to offer Arborwayish promises:

link

Gov. Deval Patrick visited Gilman Square today to announce steps he has taken to extend the Green Line through Somerville and into Medford. He said his administration would try to beat the 2014 completion date required by law.

Over the summer, Patrick proposed the completion date be pushed back to 2016 while his administration went after federal funds that he said could save state taxpayers $300 million. City officials and residents quickly voiced their displeasure with the proposal and today Patrick said the plans are back on track.

He said the Executive Office of Transportation has hired Vanasse, Hangen Brustlin, Inc. to start the required environmental review and preliminary engineering for the project. Also, a project advisory group has been established, aerial surveying work has been initiated and funds have been transferred to the MBTA to begin designing the Green Line cars.

(Emphasis mine)

...or he got a look at what the next round of lawsuits would bring and decided noncompliance with the Big Dig requirements on this particular battle front would have really, really bad consequences. I mean, how else does the completion date magically speed up and funds immediately get transferred to expedite even the auxiliary issues like an augmentation car order.

Further investigation should determine what the ultimate rationale was, but it would be a Very Good Thing Indeed for the other transit commitments if the state has determined that it's exceeding all acceptable legal risk in 'Arborwaying' every last one of the commitments and finds it legally and politically more expedient to concede and not only start work, but start work with an explicit schedule to BEAT the deadlines rather than risk anything further. They can only have so many open court battles at once before it starts to consume even their considerable leverage and considerable success nullifying the agreements. With West Medford/Union Square you may be seeing the first instance of them overplaying their hand and needing to 100% capitulate-and-build to escape imminent danger of getting nailed hard. And that would again be a Very Good Thing Indeed for the other active fronts because it means there's legitimate fear of the other dominoes toppling.

We can hope. But if previous status quo was in effect then Patrick has no political reason to about-face and the state and MBTA have no reason to switch gears from nebulous timeframes and constant delay tactics. Certainly not in the midst of a budget crisis. This isn't out of the goodness of their hearts...something in the dynamic changed and FORCED them to make this pre-emptive move.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEhvnD56Yi0

video of the above news conference.

Folks, we've seen all this before. They'll be the usual pretense to dosomething, more studies etc. Then, when it comes to putting down the big bucks, the state will find some way of getting out of it. My bet is Patrick will delay as long as he can so he can dump it in the lap of the next administration.

Now, the real issue here isn't Patrick, or the CLF, or the
T or any of the above. The real issue is insufficient tax
$$$$ to pay for transit. Period. The situation will not
be fixed until the legislature agrees to raise the gas taxes by 10 cents/gallon or so. The taxes haven't gone up since 1991, are much lower than in adjacent states, and as a percentage of cost of gas, are much much lower than they were in 1991. Now, we need someone with the guts to do it. That folks, is all there is to it.

So they just got rid of the College Ave station? That kinda makes sense since there isn't as much residential development around it.

Have they said how they are gonna pay for it?

vanshnookenraggen wrote:So they just got rid of the College Ave station? That kinda makes sense since there isn't as much residential development around it.

Have they said how they are gonna pay for it?

But wouldnt there be high demand from Tufts?

Seems like a strange cut. Maybe they did it in hopes tufts would come forward and offer to pay for a stop


Also, the terminus doesnt seem vehicle accessible, Im assuming they have no alewife-like plans for it.

jamesinclair wrote:Also, the terminus doesnt seem vehicle accessible, Im assuming they have no alewife-like plans for it.

I seem to recall strong opposition to having any Alewife-ish stations. I could be wrong though.

These proposed station sites seem to be a bit tight for space to build stations on them and none of which have any room to build a parking lot. Unless they plan on taking land and or build over the tracks, I can't see how it will work.