Arborway Green Line Restoration
Articles

T does a U-turn on resumption of Arborway trolleys

by Robin Washington
Boston Herald, Thursday, November 8, 2001

In a stunning announcement reversing more than 15 years of public transit policy, the MBTA agreed yesterday to restore trolley service on the Green Line's Arborway branch.

The decision bows to a ruling by state environmental officials in favor of the light rail service, which last ran between Heath Street and Forest Hills in 1985.

Franklyn Salimbene of the Arborway Coalition, which has fought for the service since its suspension, said he was ``ecstatic'' over the decision.

``This is really, really very good for Jamaica Plain and the city at large,'' he said. ``Now that the decision has been made I think the T will do the job right.''

Seth Kaplan of the Conservation Law Foundation, which settled a lawsuit in which the T promised five years ago to restore the service, also called it a ``huge victory'' for all of Boston. ``What's really remarkable here is both the intensity and the duration of the community's effort. They just didn't give up,'' he said.

Though the T has called the service on Jamaica Plain's narrow main streets unfeasible, a study by the state Department of Environmental Protection concluded that the T failed to prove that contention and ordered the agency to come up with a timetable for its restoration by Dec. 31.

In a joint statement with Environmental Affairs Secretary Bob Durand, Transportation Secretary Kevin J. Sullivan offered his commitment to the project.

``This light rail restoration answers the transportation needs of the people who live and work along the corridor,'' he said.

MBTA Deputy General Manager Mike Mulhern said it would be an engineering challenge, however.

``I don't anticipate this will be an easy project. We're dealing with a very small corridor with some very tight physical dimensions,'' he said, adding that the engineering design phase would take up to two years. Construction would be another two years.

``Nonetheless, we're committed to moving the project forward. The goal is to get it done,'' he said.

Part of that effort will include meeting with Centre Street businesses who have expressed opposition to the trolleys as strongly as the proponents have made their case.

Workers at J.P. Licks Ice Cream on Centre Street split on the issue. ``I think it's awesome that they're going to restore it. I'd use it,'' said Mike Neal.

Co-worker Pat Clement said he would also, but was concerned about traffic problems. ``Centre Street is busy anyway, let alone with a screaming ambulance trying to get by,'' he said.

Article © 2001 Boston Herald