East Braintree Civic Association

Greenbush and Weymouth Landing

Greenbush and Weymouth Landing - Outstanding Concerns

1) Why is the FTA sitting on a decision to require 4 quadrant gates at the RR crossing?

2) While Greenbush addressed the environmental impacts of the line on the Greenbush spur, it did not address the added noise and vibration impacts on the main line. This line impacts residents on Braintree's Church Street and elderly residents at Independence Manor.

3) The noise mitigation formula utilized by the MBTA, includes a factor called "social". Further research of the factor shows that social relates to the probability of the impacted resident to sue or cause trouble for the noise maker. This is immoral and possibly illegal. The use of a social factor, penalizes a segment of society that either financially cannot afford to take legal action or does not have the knowledge to participate in the process.

4) While the MBTA is building the Greenbush line without federal money to circumvent federal regulations, it does receive federal transportation money for other projects. Common sense would tell you that state and MBTA money that is being spent on the Greenbush project, is being backfilled with federal money on the other transportation projects. This should demand more oversight on the Greenbush project, by federal regulators.

5) Air quality requirements are based on the impacts to the REGION, which covers most of the coast of New England, not local. This means that the air quality impacts which adversely effects Greenbush line abutter, is justified when averaged over the whole REGION!!

6) The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation issued a report saying that the MBTA cannot afford its many expansion projects, while maintaining its existing infrastructure. As Massachusett's premier recipient of federal transportation money (after the Big Dig, of course), this study should be evaluated by the Federal Government.

7) The Section 106 Historical criteria should extend to historical sites on the main line, which will face the additional noise and vibration impacts of the Greenbush Line. These would include the two abutting John Adams homes in the City of Quincy.

8) The MBTA should be required to reevaluate their ridership and financial data, in light of the new economic realities. This should also include the ability of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to pay for the project based on recent adverse revenue projections.

Greenbush and Weymouth Landing

The MBTA this month, took one step foward toward the start of the Greenbush Commuter Line, and one giant step backwards. The MBTA reached an agreement on the mitigation package for the Town of Scituate. Scituate will be the southernmost station on the line,and the location of the layover
facility.

Upon completion of the Scituate agreement, the MBTA met in a public meeting of the joint Braintree and Weymouth Mitigation Committees. The
combined committees have been meeting for over a year, to reach a consensus
on the design of the Weymouth Landing station area. The Weymouth Landing
district is shared by both communities. At the time of the latest meeting, the MBTA announced that the plan put together with input from the Planning
Departments and elected officials of both towns, area residents and business
people, and the Mitigation Committees, was unacceptable. While the MBTA did
not officially endorse the ongoing development of the plan, they did
encourage its creation. This was a major setback for both the committees,
and the Aesthetics Study Committee set up by Weymouth Councilor, T.J. Lacey. The MBTA was informed that the new bare-bones design endorsed by the MBTA,was unaccceptable to both communities.

In response to the latest Weymouth Landing developments, the leadership of both mitigation committees, has set up a number of strategy sessions with elected local and state officials. Additionally, the committees are in the process of reestablishing a new earlier public hearing date with the MBTA. At the hearing, the Aesthetics Committee will present its findings. It is hoped that the MBTA will view these findings reasonable, and allow for more definitive mitigation.

The hearing date will be made public as soon as it is set. This meeting is expected to be the most important meeting (behind the Quincy Ave. "open cut" meetings), to date.

Please attend and support the efforts of the committees and your elected officials....

Mike Lang, Chairman - Braintree
Greenbush Mitigation Committee

Sponsored Links
Advertise Here!

Promote Your Business or Product for $10/mo

istockphoto_1682638-attention.jpg

For just $10/mo you can promote your business or product directly to nearby residents. Buy 12 months and save 50%!

Buynow

Zip Code Profiler

02184 Zip Code Details

Neighborhoods, Home Values, Schools, City & State Data, Sex Offender Lists, more.