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Arborway Green Line Restoration
News

  • 4/30/03 ENF Hearing

    The MBTA filed the required Environmental Notification Form (ENF) for the Arborway project on March 18. This process serves to identify issues that will come up during the project and to work positively to resolve them as best as possible.

Public comment on the ENF will be accepted until May 12, with a hearing to be held on Wed., April 30, at the Agassiz School, 20 Child St., JP.

The ENF is viewable in .pdf format at the MBTA's web site.
 

  • 10/16/02 ARRPAC Meeting

  • The fourth ARRPAC meeting continued where the previous meeting left off. After making considerable progress on drafting a set of stop locations, the committee agreed to schedule another session before its next scheduled meeting date, in order to fully address the remaining stops on the line. That meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 7 at the State Labs.

    A more complete summary of this meeting appears on our ARRPAC Notes page.

  • 9/19/02 ARRPAC Meeting

    ARRPAC met to begin discussions over station design concepts brought by project consultants, and to begin discussion on potential locations of stops along the corridor.

    Read more about it on our ARRPAC Notes page.


  • 8/7/02 ARRPAC Meet-and-Greet

    The Arborway Rail Restoration Project Advisory Committee (ARRPAC) held an informal "meet and greet" session with members of the recently-approved project design team led by Vanesse Hangen Brustlin, Inc.(VHB).

    Questions were answered about the Scope of Work approved as part of the project contract. Plans for the process leading up to the 15% design review, including the schedule of meetings for the remainder of the year, were also discussed.

    Read more about it on our ARRPAC Notes page.

  • 7/10/02 ARRPAC Meeting

    ARRPAC met for the second time on Wednesday, July 10 in a meeting that began with a bus tour of the Arborway corridor from Forest Hills to Heath Street. Along the way, stops were made to allow committee members to address concerns about specific portions of the route.Upon arrival at Heath Street, the committee disembarked to examine elements of the newly rebuilt station there.

    Following the tour, the committee viewed slides of street-running light rail innovations elsewhere in North America, and wrapped up its preliminary procedural discussions.

    See the ARRPAC Notes page for more info.
  • 5/22/02 ARRPAC Meeting

    The Arborway Rail Restoration Project Advisory Committee (ARRPAC), a combination of citizens, delegates of local politicians, city and state officials, and project planners, held its first meeting on Wednesday, May 22.

    After committee members were introduced, the issues of Decision-making, Attendance, and the requirement of committee members to support actively the E Line's restoration.

    A full summary appears on the ARRPAC Notes page.

  • 1/9/02 Community Meets on Restoration
    Over 100 community members, city and state political leaders, and other interested parties gathered at the Agassiz Schol on Wednesday night, Jan 9, to begin the public comment phase of Arborway Green Line restoration.

    In attendance were MBTA General Manager Mike Mulhern and Director of Design Barbara Boylan, as well as Boston Transportation Commissioner Andrea d'Amato, and project consultant Bill Lieberman.

    Mulhern pledged the T's commitment to an open process involving the concerns of all affected by the project. d'Amato told the crowd the city would play an active part in ensuring that the community's needs were addressed.

    Lieberman said he planned to apply Best Practices from his experience on similar projects worldwide to the Arborway line, and to this end stated his desire to see technical and community advisory committees combined into a single unified project advisory committee.

    Arborway Committee chairman Franklyn Salimbene thanked Mulhern for taking a hands-on role in the process. He called the project a catalyst for the community to address street-related issues in Jamaica Plain whose solutions have been stalled for years over concerns about traffic.

    Individuals interested in participating in the advisory committee to the project should e-mail Boylan at bboylan@mbta.com.

  • 11/07/01 EOEA AFFIRMS FEASIBILITY
    At 3:30 this afternoon, November 7, 2001, EOEA through DEP issued a ruling that Arborway Green Line restoration is feasible. The ruling affirmed that EOTC had not proven the infeasibility of Arborway service on any of the three grounds— environmental, engineering, and economic. The ruling concluded as follows:

    "The Department (DEP) requires by this letter that a schedule for design and construction of the Arborway Project be provided to the Department by December 31, 2001. The schedule shall include benchmarks, milestones, and action items and shall be subject to approval by the Department."

    Read the EOEA press release announcing the decicion, and our press release on the announcement. Also see Robin Washington's story from the Boston Herald in our Articles section.

  • 10/29/01 Merchants Speak Out
    More than 60 Centre St. and South St. business owners have signed a petition calling for Mayor Thomas Menino to join the many already supporting Arborway Green Line restoration. Read the press release here. Also see local merchants Cat Thomson and Elizabeth Fixler's letter to the mayor calling for his support.
  • 5/30/01 Community Meeting
    The MBTA will hold a public meeting to discuss the findings of its study of light rail restoration on the Arborway Corridor. The meeting will be held at 6 pm, Wed. May 30, in the Agassiz School cafeteria, 20 Child St., Jamaica Plain. (click for location)
  • 4/28/01 Meeting Notice
    The Arborway Committee will meet on Monday, May 7, at 7:30 p.m. at the Agassiz School, Child Street. Take the #39 bus to the stop at St. Thomas's Church on South Street (click for location). New members are welcome.

  • 4/13/01 Survey Shows Support for Restoration
    Arborway Line restoration is the overwhelming favorite in the results of the Jamaica Plain Gazette's Arborway Line survey. In the April 13 issue, a front-page article titled "Most people want to take trolley downtown" reports that 135 of the 180 respondents said they would use public transportation if a one-seat light rail ride to Park Street were available.


  • 3/24/01 The Jamaica Plain Gazette wants your opinions on the Arborway Line. Take their quick survey (available here in MS Word and text file formats), and email it to them by April 4.

    The Gazette will be conducting a follow-up survey once this one is complete, so be sure to check back here for more information, or visit their web site.