The Arborway Committee is a volunteer group of residents and merchants in and around the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston that advocates for quality public transit in the urban environment. One of the chief objectives of the Committee is the restoration of Green Line service to Jamaica Plain.

LATEST NEWS

• Rethinking Centre Street IV: Planning the Street for the Urban Century
  October 15 in Jamaica Plain   NEW!
• Arborway Committee to Appeal Decision   
• Update on the Arborway Committee's lawsuit to enforce restoration
• MBTA's threatened drastic cuts would cripple transit in Jamaica Plain
• Help build a greener Boston: Join the Arborway Committee today

LAWSUIT UPDATE, PART I
Arborway Committee to appeal decision

On May 26, 2009, Superior Court Judge Lloyd Macdonald issued a ruling in favor of the Executive Office of Transportation (EOT) effectively dismissing the Arborway Committee's suit against EOT. The suit sought to enjoin EOT from abandoning the Arborway Green Line project as a "Big Dig" transit commitment. The ruling found that the statute of limitations for bringing the suit had run. In response, the Arborway Committee has filed a Notice of Appeal with the Massachusetts Appeals Court. A hearing will be scheduled by the Court for sometime in 2010. For more information about the suit, continue reading below:

LAWSUIT UPDATE, PART II
Arborway Committee rejects Commonwealth's motion to dismiss

On April 9, 2009, Suffolk Superior Court Judge Lloyd Macdonald held a
hearing on the state defendants' motion for summary judgment, which contends
that the suit filed by the Arborway Committee against the state defendants,
seeking a ruling by the court that the December 1990 Memorandum of
Understanding ("MOU") between the Commonwealth and the Conservation Law
Foundation, requires the state defendants to restore the Arborway line to
Forest Hills, is barred by the three year statute of limitations.  On behalf
of the state defendants, the Attorney General's Office argued that the suit
was brought too late as it should have been brought within three years of
1996, a date referred to in the MOU.

In opposition to the state defendants' motion, the Arborway Committee,
represented by Paul Muniz of Burns & Levinson, LLP, argued that there is a
genuine issue of fact that requires a trial (with witnesses, etc.) to
determine when the state defendants' breach of the MOU occurred.  In support
of that contention, the Arborway Committee directed the court's attention to
the facts, among others, that: (1) The MOU itself provided for environmental
reviews and for a process for the state to seek substitutions, which the EOT
and the MBTA took advantage of in seeking substitutions and reviews that
took years to resolve; (2) The MBTA's Arborway Rail Restoration Project
Advisory Committee was meeting with and advising EOT and the MBTA as to the
MBTA's plans and drawings for the actual construction of the restoration
project as late as February 18, 2004; and, (3) The change in the state
regulation to delete Arborway restoration did not occur until December 2006.

At the end of the hearing, the judge took the motion under advisement.  It
is not known when the judge will issue a decision. 
    
      

FISCAL CRISIS NO EXCUSE TO SLASH SERVICE
T's Threatened Drastic "E" Branch Cuts Unacceptable

Currently, the MBTA is contemplating several actions to deal with its
financial woes. One action is a drastic reduction in service that includes
terminating all Green Line service on the Huntington Avenue branch (E-Line)
at Brigham Circle and abandoning the remainder of the line to Heath Street.
Further, the T is contemplating discontinuing all weekend service on the
entire E-Line from Copley to Brigham Circle.

The following letter, published recently in the Jamaica Plain Gazette, is a
response to the T's proposal from the Chair of the Arborway Committee:

On Friday, April 10, the MBTA’s plan for reducing transit costs was published in the Boston Globe. The plan is particularly damaging to public transit in Jamaica Plain and Mission Hill. Specifically, on weekdays the MBTA proposes abandoning all E-Line streetcar service beyond Brigham Circle with no service to Parker Hill Avenue, the Riverway, the VA Hospital, and Heath Street. On weekends, the T proposes eliminating the entire E-Line period. The T claims the ability to make these cuts because the #39 bus serves the same corridor. While true, it is important to consider whether #39 bus is capable of accommodating this change. Recently, for example, the MBTA increased rushhour headways on the #39 bus to 8 minutes from what had been service every 6-7 minutes. This reduction in bus service to Jamaica Plain coupled with the loss of Green Line service to Heath Street means fewer buses making more frequent stops to pick up more passengers. This is not better transit without trolleys. In fact, it puts the lie to the whole idea that Jamaica Plain can be better served by buses than by the Green Line. Of course, these serious cuts in transit service along the corridor would not have been contemplated if Green Line service ran all the way to the Arborway. Both internal MBTA studies and the New Program for Mass Transit confirm that the best way for the T to reduce operating costs along the Arborway corridor is to discontinue the #39 bus altogether and restore streetcar service to the Arborway. Such a solution would remove the specter of service reductions, increase access to Centre Street without increasing reliance on the automobile, and advance the cause of environmental protection. Like the witches in Macbeth, the MBTA and the City administration have prepared a brew which spells toil and trouble for Jamaica Plain.

Franklyn P. Salimbene

Jamaica Plain

2009 MEMBERSHIP DRIVE
Help Build a Greener Boston: Join the Arborway Committee Today! 
 
2009 is an important year in our effort to restore Arborway Green Line service. We are at a crossroads. The economy, the onward march of global warming, and the meltdown in the State’s financing of public transit have all conspired to remind us of the urgent need to improve public transit in greater Boston and particularly in transit-dependent neighborhoods like Jamaica Plain.

Restoring Green Line service will add much needed vitality to the neighborhood by providing an attractive alternative for connecting Centre and South streets and South Huntington Avenue by subway directly with core constituencies and important commercial, governmental, and entertainment centers throughout greater Boston.

Restoring Green Line service will also reduce reliance on the automobile and contribute to decreasing negative environmental impacts that are a product of poor air quality. For example, as you may know, Jamaica Plain continues to have a higher incidence of asthma hospitalizations of children under 5 years old than many other Boston neighborhoods.

The Arborway Committee is committed to restoring the Green Line and improving air quality. As part of this commitment, later this year we will sponsor another in our series of "Rethinking Centre Street" film and panel discussions. This program takes on added importance as the City of Boston is currently developing plans for a design and rebuild of Centre Street that is primarily automobile-friendly. Please keep an eye out for notices about this program.

Also, as you may know our suit against EOT continues to make its way through the judicial process. We will soon provide you with an update of where things stand.

As a Member of the Arborway Committee you can share in our efforts to plan for the long-term sustainability of our urban environment and to promote the unparalleled advantages of quality public transit.

It is time to renew your membership. If you are not already a member, consider becoming one.

Contact the Arborway Committee through this Website or telephone Franklyn P. Salimbene, Chair at 617/524-5331.

FEATURED LINKS

Somerville
Transportation
Equity
Partnership (STEP)
Our counterparts across the river are working to ensure the legally mandated northerly Green Line extension is carried out, and further promote better transit in Somerville.

Light Rail Now
A non-profit group that supports light rail development worldwide and provides guidance, strategic insight, technical expertise, and networking in support of light rail.