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Rest of Green Line Extension to open to the public on Dec. 12, MBTA says, and this time they say they mean it
By adamg on Thu, 11/17/2022 - 10:35am
MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak announced this morning that the Medford branch of the Green Line Extension, the long one, the one with more than one stop, will start taking passengers on Dec. 12. In recent days, the T has been running test trolleys up and down the line.
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Comments
The MBTA webpage about the
The MBTA webpage about the Green Line Extension still says Medford branch service is "projected to begin" in November 2022.
They're still using the Julian calendar
November 30, 2022 (old style) = December 12, 2022 (new style).
Or...
November 42nd (MBTA Newspeak)
…and the Community Path?
The community path - which has no switches, overhead power structures, signals, or rolling stock - apparently will not open until after the first of the year. I’m hearing that Somerville and Cambridge and MassDOT and the MBTA are still figuring out who’s responsible for what, and ensuring that all the correct legal agreements are in place.
Which is f**king ABSURD when you realize this project has been in full swing for a decade!!! THIS IS NOT A SURPRISE.
As usual, there’s an astounding lack of urgency when it comes to supporting active mobility - and shifting people from short vehicle trips to more active modes is the surest way we know of to improve our quality of life & reduce CO2 emissions. And it’s the cheapest!
This is true
And the path will remain like almost all new paths in MA: completely finished and fully usable yet cordoned off for weeks for no safety reason. It’s a big screw-you to anyone who it would help.
Also like all paths it will unceremoniously open when someone finally cuts a hole in the fence and people start ignoring the “closed” signage.
I've heard that it will be in use by contractors
while they are finishing some of the final work on the stations, tracks, signaling, etc. I'm fine with it taking another couple months while they finish up.
I'm fine with it too, but...
there is an on-going issue in Massachusetts in which pedestrian and bike infrastructure is eliminated to facilitate construction of something else without any mitigation effort. In this case, it's a new path where before there was none, so okay. But take a look at the bike lanes on Mass Ave. by the Turnpike. The construction project above the Pike eliminated them, and did not create a viable alternative other than routing bikes on to what is now the pedestrian path (dangerous for pedestrians) or in to the car lanes (dangerous for the bike riders). In this example, the construction project could have also shifted the car lanes to leave room for everybody but didn't. When this kind of thing is standard, it's harder to be forgiving about the community path delays.
Yes, the GLX construction team has said this for a while
as early as last year, I think. They may still need access to the tracks from the path right-of-way for a short time after service starts next month.
GLX Says a lot of things
Such as, GLX would have opened for service a year(s) ago.
I wouldn't mind if they actually used the community path extension for real construction activities. But if it remains closed and locked without being used, who does that help?