Patrick seeks $300m for Green Line

Moving to allay fears that the MBTA Green Line extension to Somerville and Medford will be delayed again, Governor Deval Patrick announced yesterday that the state is applying for $300 million in federal funding and taking several other steps to move the long-awaited project forward.

Patrick also told Somerville and Medford residents that the state will pay the MBTA to begin designing new trains and has hired a consultant, Vanasse Hangen Brustlin Inc., to perform environmental and engineering studies. In addition, the state has organized an advisory group of residents that will meet monthly until the project is complete, beginning Oct. 25, Patrick said.

If federal funding is not approved, the state will borrow money to pay for the $560 million project, the governor said during a gathering of residents and local political leaders at Gilman Square in Somerville.

Patrick said he hopes the new train service will be operational by 2014, not 2016, as his office had projected in August.

"The Green Line extension is an important project," Patrick said. "I'm here to affirm my 100 percent commitment to see it gets built and gets built while I am in office."

ANDREA ESTES