Somerville Aldermen Irate over Green Line Delays

"They basically gave us the middle finger. That's the only way I can describe it. It's the middle finger to the people of Somerville."

That's how At-Large Alderman William White described recent news from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation that.

The city has "spent hundreds of thousands of dollars planning for this," White said. "We've been planning to have economic revenue to help the tax payers," and the decision to delay the Green Line extension into Somerville is an economic "catastrophe" for the city.

White and other aldermen proposed a resolution objecting to the delay and asking the mayor and city solicitor to explore legal options against the state.

Alderman Robert Trane, Ward 7, said of the project delays, "My fear is this is not just a delay. This is a tactic so they can fund other commuter projects."

"I think we've got a little shell game going on here that I'm not very happy about," he said. "I think the people of the city deserve to know what's going on."

William Roche, alderman for Ward 1, said his ward, in East Somerville, has to "bear the brunt" of air pollution and automobile traffic in the city. Interstate 93 cuts through Ward 1 to the north, the McGrath Highway borders the area to the south, and commuters heading into Boston use Ward 1 as a cut-through. 

"We need to have answers from MassDOT" about the delays, Roche said.

Maryann Heuston, alderman for Ward 2, which includes part of Union Square, the location of a planned Green Line station, said the city "has re-zoned Union Square with the hopes of transit."

The re-zoning process took years of work, she said, and "Lo and behold, the state drops the ball."

Trane, Roche and Heuston were among other alderman who sponsored a separate resolution calling for MassDOT to appear before the board of aldermen and explain the revised timeline for completing the project.

Alderman Sean P'Donovan from Ward 5 said that unless the city forces the state's hand on the Green Line extension, he doesn't think the project will ever happen.

He added a clause to the resolution inviting the Conservation Law Foundation to speak to the board about possible legal options. The Conservation Law Foundation was behind legal actions over the past two decades that called for the Green Line extension to be built as mitigation for the Central Artery highway project, commonly known as the Big Dig.

Alderman At-Large John Connolly said news of delays "is bitterly disappointing to all of us." 

"To have it put off after such an incredible amount of work … what a bitter pill for us to swallow," he said.

Connolly called on the city to "find the best way to file an action against the commonwealth" due to the delays.

Ward 6 Alderman Rebekah Gewirtz said, "Our city has spent countless hours, man hours, time, money" planning for the Green Line. "I would like the state to point to one other community" in the commonwealth that has put in so much work, she said.

Gewirtz said that although state transportation authorities are moving forward with planning and design work on the Green Line extension, "Anybody can read the tea leaves on that … I don't believe it."

She called on residents of Somerville to attend public meetings on the matter and band together to show the state "We are united. We stand together. We are not going to accept this and we are not going to take this."