Somerville's public transportation options may expand significantly in the future, especially if the town's residents get their way.
Close to 400 people attended a meeting held by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Wednesday night at Somerville High School to hear about its plans for the so-called Northwest Corridor leading up from Lechmere through northern Somerville and Medford.
The project is called "Beyond Lechmere" and may result in new bus lines and commuter rail stops and an expansion of the T's Green Line to Somerville.
"The fact that so many people are here on a night when the Red Sox are going to win the World Series should be a statement about how much support there is for this project," Project Manager for the MBTA Joe Cosgrove said.
Parsons Brinckerhoff and Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, the consulting firms hired by the MBTA, have developed four alternatives for the project. One involves the extension of the Green Line from Lechmere through Somerville along the Fitchburg Commuter Rail Line, and into Medford. Several of the stops would be in the area surrounding the Tufts campus.
Other options would include a Bus Rapid Transit line along the same route, the addition of new stops in Somerville on the Commuter Rail, and the improvement of the existing bus system.
But Somerville residents seem to want the Green Line more than anything else. An extension was discussed first in 1973, and then proposed in 1984. "Why don't you give us what's been promised to us for 30 years?" asked resident Bill Shelton.
One resident even recited a poem he wrote for the occasion, urging the MBTA to "please build this thing, this line of green, to get us to the Town of Bean."
Several residents expressed anxiety at the fact that Somerville is the home to a 46-acre facility that services the machinery used in the Commuter Rail. The facility not only has a negative environmental impact, it is also tax-free.
Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone came down on the side of the residents. "Somerville was built around 17 rail stops," he said. "Now eight passenger trail lines come through Somerville and only one stops."
Curtatone is also concerned about the traffic created by the current lack of public transit. "More than 50,000 cars come through the corridor daily," he said.
He pointed out that the air quality in Somerville is one of the worst in the state. "I'm speaking as a native here," Curtatone said. "We deserve nothing less than rail service."
State Senator Jarrett Barrios agreed the public transportation is substandard in Somerville, which is the most densely populated city in the northeast. "We don't want to have more cars in 10 years," he said. "What better place than the most dense community in the northeast to start the kind of positive development we need?"
The Green Line extension would also provide economic benefits for Somerville, Cosgrove said. "[Governor Mitt Romney] has been advocating for smart-growth and transit-oriented development," he said. "If we don't have the transit, we can't do transit-oriented development."
The state is already legally obligated to extend the Green Line into Somerville by Dec. 31, 2011 as part of a statewide plan to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. The plan is included in the Administrative Consent Order formulated to mitigate the effects of the Big Dig on traffic.
"If the state doesn't honor these agreements, we'll see them in court," Barrios said.
Funding remains an issue in the extension project, however. "Those commitments were made in 1990, and now there's a funding gap," Cosgrove said. "There's no money at the state, and the federal pot is very limited."
Jan Okolowicz of Parsons Brinckerhoff said the MBTA would be more likely to receive federal funding for a project involving the bus line, a suggestion that was hissed at by the audience.
There are other problems with the potentially less expensive option of adding commuter rail stops. Those waiting for a train would have to wait for at least 15 minutes for a train, Okolowicz said.
"When I hear about problems and looking for alternatives," Curtatone said, "that tells me you're not looking at the best solution."
But MBTA representatives emphasized that the project is in its early stages. "The goal right now is to look at all the feasible alternatives," said Mike McArdle of Vanasse Hangen Brustlin.
City and state officials said the best way to reach a favorable outcome for the city is for its residents to continue displaying the enthusiasm they showed on Wednesday.
"Keep pushing us and keep pushing the MBTA," Barrios said. "Your presence here tonight speaks much more loudly than any legislator can that this is a priority to residents in Somerville."
