Somerville artists oppose new Green Line maintenance facility
Tenants in the Brickbottom Artist Building, are part of a coalition fighting
the Yard 8 facility for Green Line repairs.
The manager of the Brickbottom Artists Building is urging city residents to tell state transit officials that putting a Green line maintenance facility in the area known as Yard 8 would hurt the neighborhood.
"I encourage people to write letters to the [state] Department of Transportation and to voice their opposition to Yard 8," building manager Robert Martel said.
The state has signaled support for putting the 11-acre facility in Yard 8 as part of the Green Line Extension, which includes a planned stop in the Brickbottom area.
Yard 8 is a zone near a rail line and a strip that includes Artex Fine Art Services on Innerbelt Road. More than 200 Brickbottom tenants oppose putting the maintenance facility there, claiming it would destroy local businesses, limit opportunities for new development, and introduce noise and light pollution to the neighborhood, among other pitfalls.
The group instead backs the option commonly known as Mirror Scheme H, which would place the facility between the Boston Engine Terminal and the North Point area.
"Not only does Brickbottom favor [Mirror H], but also the mayor of the City of Somerville, the aldermen of the City of Somerville, the Somerville Chamber of Commerce," and several other business and community groups favor it, Martel said.
While the state will take public comment on the project until Jan. 8, city spokesman Tom Champion said that Mayor Joseph Curtatone and other officials have lobbied hard for Mirror H "behind the scenes."
"This is a discussion that has been going on for a long time," he said. "Yes, behind the scenes, in front of the scenes, formally, informally, every chance we get."
It remains unclear whether the blitz will pay off. Adam Hurtubise, a spokesman for the state Department of Transportation, said in an e-mail that while the agency prefers Yard 8, officials will consider other options, including Mirror H.
"With analysis still underway, it would be premature to speculate on our eventual recommendation," he said.
The state plans to build four other Green line stops in Somerville, in Gilman Square; Lowell Street; Union Square; and at Route 16 along the border with Medford. All stations are scheduled to open in 2014, except for the Route 16 stop, slated to open in 2016.
The state will take public comments on the extension until Jan. 8. Residents can submit written comments to Holly Johnson of the state environmental policy office at holly.s.johnson@state.ma.us, and to Kate Fichter of the state Department of Transportation at katherine.fichter@eot.state.ma.us.
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