Light Rail Forum

Eight Streets is one of the sponsors of this forum, happening in our neighborhood THIS MONDAY, 12/4.   I hope everyone can attend        

 

“Light Rail Today”

Community Groups Sponsor Forum on Light Rail Alternatives

• Monday, December 4, 6:30-8:00 PM

Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology, 41 Berkeley Street

• Thursday, December 14, 6:30-8:00 PM

USES Harriet Tubman House, 566 Columbus Avenue

 

(South End) “Light Rail Today” is the theme of two public meetings in which South End and Lower Roxbury residents and users of the Silver Line bus service can learn how light rail would work as a transit alternative along Washington Street.  The forums will be held on December 4 and December 14.  They will feature presentations by members of the Washington Street Corridor Coalition, followed by questions from the public. Both are free and open to all.

“Light Rail Today” is co-sponsored by the Eight Streets, Ellis and Old Dover Neighborhood Associations, Castle Square Tenants Organization and The Neighborhood Forum, a program of United South End Settlements.  

When planning to dismantle the elevated Orange Line, the MBTA promised its riders an equal or better replacement service.  The line came down in 1987, and since then there have been buses on the route it served from Dudley to downtown.   Many in the community believe that bus service is not an adequate replacement for a rapid transit line. The bus ride takes longer (averaging 22 minutes now, compared to 8 minutes), and riders must then transfer into the central subway system.

The Washington Street Corridor Coalition has developed alternative proposals, using both light rail and rapid transit technology, that deserve active public discussion and evaluation by the MBTA.  These alternatives could prove more effective and less costly than the Silver Line bus service and bus portals currently being debated.    

Since the MBTA has not engaged in a public process that brings the neighborhoods together to discuss alternatives, neighborhood organizations are now joining together to take on this responsibility.  In the next few months more such informational meetings are being planned with neighborhood groups along the entire length of the replacement service corridor, from Chinatown to Mattapan, to raise public awareness about the light rail alternatives.

 

 

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John McLachlan
President, Webmaster
Eight Streets Neighborhood Association
South End (Boston) MA
http://eightstreets.tripod.com
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