Green Line Meeting Wednesday, June 30
Public Meeting to Provide Input on Environmental Impact Report
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation has submitted a Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) for the Green Line Extension project as required by the Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs.
The FEIR responds to specific issues identified by the Secretary in the Green Line Extension Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR), which was filed last fall. Among those are:
– Additional analysis of other vehicle maintenance and storage facility locations, and the rationale for MassDOT’s new recommendation of the “Option L” location rather than “Yard 8,” which was the recommendation in the DEIR
– A revised conceptual design of the relocated Lechmere Station, with additional analysis of impact
– Analysis of the operations and impacts associated with the use of the College Avenue Station as a terminal station for the first phase of the extension
– Supplemental discussion clarifying air quality modeling procedures employed in support of the project
– A summary of overall project impacts and mitigation measures
– Development of a Public Involvement Plan for future community participation
The FEIR also contains all of the comment letters received on the DEIR, with response to all substantive comments.
The FEIR is available on the project website, www.greenlineextension.org.
Complete reference copies of the FEIR also are available at public libraries and city clerk’s offices in Medford, Somerville and Cambridge.
A public meeting on the FEIR will be held on Wednesday, June 30, at 6 p.m. at the Somerville High School Auditorium. The meeting will provide an opportunity for members of the public, agency representatives, and other project stakeholders to learn about changes to the project and ask questions.
The public comment period for the document will be for 30 days. All comments are due to the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) Office by July 23, 2010. All written comments must be submitted to:
Secretary Ian Bowles
Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs
MEPA Office, Attn: Holly Johnson, MEPA Analyst
EEA #13886
100 Cambridge Street, Suite 900
Boston MA 02114
Fax: 617-626-1181. Email: Holly.S.Johnson@state.ma.us
Comments also may be sent to Katherine Fichter, Office of Transportation Planning, 10 Park Plaza, Room 4150, Boston, MA 02116.
– Information from Massachusetts Department of Transportation and Ken Krause of the Medford Green Line Neighborhood Alliance.
Photo by Alexander Svirsky, MassRoads.com.