The cities of Medford and Somerville have decided to file a lawsuit in conjunction with the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) against the state of Massachusetts for alleged violations of the Clean Air Act and for reneging on a deal to extend the Green Line.
"When the state got the go-ahead 15 years ago to build the Big Dig, it made a deal - in order to offset the potential pollution and congestion caused by the cars piling into the tunnel, it would also build ... a Green Line extension to Somerville and Medford ... and we're here today to remind them - a deal is a deal," Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone said in a Jan. 12 press conference explaining the lawsuit.
The construction of the Big Dig greatly increased the traffic in the surrounding towns, said Lucy Warsh, Curtatone's public information officer.
In exchange for this, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) was supposed to extend the Green Line and create more stops.
Currently, the only subway stop in Somerville, a city of 80,000, is the on the Red Line at Davis Square. Cambridge, by comparison, has seven stops, and Needham, a suburb roughly one-quarter the size of Somerville, has four.
"This is an injustice, a wrong we plan to right through this suit and our other efforts in the years to come," Curtatone said.
The MBTA approved a $391,000 feasibility study of the project in Mar. 2004, considering various options.
"We are in the process of conducting a study. We are interested in this project," Lydia Rivera of the MBTA Public Affairs Office said. "We do have limited resources. We also, along with this project, have other priorities and realities. Funding is holding us back."
According to Rivera, the MBTA will examine the "ridership" of the various routes and services it provides, and take estimates this spring as part of the Green Line extension study. The MBTA will also consider whether to convert existing tracks and equipment or build entirely new rails, as well as the environmental impact of this project.
The affected cities, however, have made it clear that they feel this is not progressing quickly enough, and that the state must take immediate action to make good on their deal.
"The state is delaying the process," Warsh said. "They're doing what bureaucracies do. They're prolonging the process. They're not doing it. They're just talking about it."
In addition to giving citizens access to the convenience of public transportation, Warsh and Curtatone point to the environmental impact of the increase in the number of cars driving through and around Somerville as a result of the Big Dig.
"Everyday, more than a quarter of a million cars travel through Somerville. As they do, they spew pollution that leaves us with some of the dirtiest air on the East Coast," Curtatone said.
"There is data that says that the Big Dig increased transit by cars by [a certain amount] per day in Somerville," Warsh said. "That is certainly part of the argument, saying listen, this is a huge burden to our community."
Given this, the cities filed intent to sue on Jan. 12, and a mandatory 60-day notice means that litigation can begin, at the earliest, Mar.12. The state has begun to hold public hearings and meetings with representatives and citizens from Cambridge, Medford, and Somerville as part of the initial study.
According to Rivera, the Green Line is the busiest of the MBTA's subways, with total ridership at around 225,000 per day, out of a total MBTA ridership of 1.1 million per day. Facing a $16 million deficit, however, funding is the biggest obstacle for the MBTA.
"If the state decides to direct us to advance this project, we will do so," Rivera said. "We're at a standstill right now."
Estimates put the cost of the project at around $375 million, and it is still unclear what the result of the lawsuit will be. Curtatone's wish, however, is for the project to be "implemented in a satisfactory way" by 2011.
