There's also been discussion revolving around Mass Ave in Cambridge. The City of Cambridge (historically a supporter of retaining the ETB system) has been pushing for dedicated bus and bike lanes. It sounds like the T has convinced the City that somehow (crazy as this sounds) that those can't be done until the ETB overhead is removed. This appears to be how the T finally removed the last stumbling block to municipal opposition.
(The Mass Ave OHW is supported by bracket arms on each side, rather than span wires, but in the long run, even new poles are not that expensive. The expensive part of electrification is the substations and feeder network. The restoration of overhead on Trapelo Road in 2016 was like a rounding error on the street reconstruction project.)
Any review of trolleybus and tram installations in Europe will show that you can fit OHW into damn near any situation, provided there's a will to do it. The T's only will is to get rid of it.
Wondering if I'll see the Western Route double-tracking finished before I retire...
Photo: Melbourne W7 No. 1019 on Route 78, Bridge & Church Streets, Richmond, Victoria. 10/21/2010