Despite a growing burden of debt, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority could begin construction on extending the Green Line from Lechmere to College Avenue in Medford and Union Square in Somerville in the coming months.
“The extension of the Green Line in to Somerville and Medford will greatly improve mobility in the area,” said Kelly Smith, deputy press secretary for the MBTA.
The extension would take place on the E line and include the construction of seven new stations, including the relocation of the current Lechmere station in Cambridge, according to the Green Line Extension Project website.
It would also require the relocation of both the Lowell and Fitchburg Commuter Rail tracks to allow for construction of new tracks in the space, according to the project website.
The MBTA expects the project to be completed by July 2019 with trains operating every five to six minutes during rush hour, according to the website.
Smith said the project could bring economic opportunities and community development to the area.
Some real estate agents said they are concerned about the impact the project will have on the communities in the area, especially on housing prices.
“It would certainly increase the [home] prices for people coming into that area,” said Renee Lawyer, realtor at Century 21 Advance Realty in Medford. “People do like to be near public transportation so that’s a selling point.”
She said home prices in the Medford area are not too expensive, but there is already a higher demand for property in the area because of the anticipation of the Green Line extension.
“Medford already has the commuter rail. We’ve actually seen that area change quite a bit and prices go up [because of that],” Lawyer said.
Despite general enthusiasm for this project, some residents said they are worried about how much it will cost to ride out to Somerville and Medford.
“It’s nice that they’re going to extend the train out to Medford,” said Vanessa Spatafora, 29, a financial consultant from Winthrop. “It’s probably going to be a little more expensive … you move people and you’ve got to pay extra.”
Spatafora said the extension could be a better alternative to the current commuter rail service.
Ryan Cook, 26, an advertising revenue manager from Back Bay, said he hopes the extension will not be too much of a burden on taxpayers, but that it could benefit people in the Cambridge area.
“A lot of people come in from Medford or the Northern extension of Massachusetts, so it would probably work well for them and for people in Cambridge,” he said.
Jessica Jackson, 26, associate operations manager at a publishing firm from Stoneham, said the project is important for the expansion of housing in the area.
“[The project would] definitely increase public transit,” she said. “I definitely think that people would be more prone to moving out that way [to Medford and Somerville].”
Jackson said the extension could convince people to be more environmentally friendly.
“It would help with the whole global warming fiasco,” she said. “More people would be likely to take public transit.”
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