Somerville Mayor Calls Green Line Delays 'Unacceptable"

In a statement issued Tuesday on the city of Somerville's ResiStat blog, Joseph Curtatone, the city's mayor, said a four-year delay in plans for the Green Line Extension "is simply unacceptable."

"Fundamental matters of social justice, economic justice and environmental justice are at stake in this project," the statement says.

It adds, "The State must do better than declare it is going to miss the legally mandated 2014 deadline for the extension with vague promises that it is still 'behind' the project."

In the statement, Curtatone said he plans to meet with Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick about the matter, and he said, "Residents and business owners in Somerville, Cambridge and Medford need to inundate the Governor, their state representatives, MassDOT and the MBTA with letters, calls and emails demanding a definitive plan for the Green Line Extension be adopted."

On Monday, a status report filed by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, MassDOT, said . Last year, MassDOT was predicting it would be completed by 2015, although there is a legal obligation—related to mitigation for the Big Dig highway project—for the project to completed by the end of 2014.

Read Curtatone's full statement here.