If tentative plans are carried out, Tufts students venturing into Boston on the T in six years will be able to forego the trip to Davis Square.
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority unveiled plans on May 5 to construct seven new Green Line stations in Medford and Somerville, one of which would be located about one block away from Tufts on Boston Avenue in the Medford Hillside neighborhood.
The final plan for the project, slated for completion by 2014, was announced to a project advisory board on May 6.
Along with the Boston Avenue stop, the plan includes adding one additional stop in Medford and five in Somerville. One of the Somerville stops would be blocks from Tufts, located in Ball Square. The second Medford stop would be located alongside the Mystic Valley Parkway, while the other four stops in Somerville would include Lowell Street Station, Gilman Square Station, Brickbottom Station and Union Square Station.
In the past few months, city officials have met with local residents in town hall meetings on the Tufts campus and elsewhere to discuss possible locations for the stops. But even though plans have been announced, state officials emphasized that the proposal for the Green Line extension project has not been finalized. It will be reviewed over the next two to three years.
Tufts Community Union (TCU) President Duncan Pickard, a sophomore, is looking forward to the Green Line's arrival to Boston Avenue.
"I think it's going to be a really great change and will help students connect better to the surrounding community," Pickard said. "I think that Tufts tries to promote its transportation and proximity to Boston, especially to incoming freshmen, and to say that we have a T stop right on campus is going to be incredible."
Dean of Student Affairs Bruce Reitman said the stop would benefit students. "For Tufts, it would be a wonderful opportunity, because it's another way to ... get into Boston without using the Joey or going in on the Red Line," he said.
While Tufts students may be excited about the new station, the Boston Globe reported that many Medford residents have expressed concerns that the location of the station favors Tufts at the expense of local residents.
Pickard says that this issue should not strain town-gown relations. "I don't think that there is anything about [the project] that speaks to benefiting just Tufts," he said. "A lot of colleges like BC, BU, Harvard and MIT have T stops, and like them, the new Green Line stop will be mutually beneficial for Tufts and the surrounding community."
Pickard expressed interest in spending more time talking about the Green Line project at Senate meetings.
Reitman foresaw the extension positively affecting Medford residents. "It will be wonderful for Tufts and wonderful for Medford too," he said. "Before the Red Line was extended to Davis, Davis Square and Medford Square were both similar, sleepy places and were very different compared to what Davis Square has become."
On April 17, Gov. Deval Patrick signed a bill appropriating $600 million toward the Green Line extension project.
