Future growth plans in Everett hinge on whether or not the MBTA strikes ahead with a Silver Line connection to town, its transportation planner stated.
Jay Monty stated the addition of near-rapid bus service would supply a “critical” transit hyperlink for residents and companies in two main growth areas in Everett, the Commercial Triangle District and Lower Broadway Corridor.
“We’re pleased to see routes that go into downtown Boston and Cambridge,” Monty stated. “Today anybody trying to use public transit in Everett relies on public bus service, which is somewhat infrequent and unreliable.”
The Silver Line, he stated, contains parts of fast transit that enable these buses to function a lot sooner than conventional MBTA buses.
Monty stated all seven routes proposed by the MBTA would serve town’s Commercial Triangle District, which is bounded by Revere Beach Parkway to the north, the City of Chelsea to the east, the MBTA line to the south and Lower Broadway to the west.
Some, however not all, of the routes, he stated, would hook up with the Lower Broadway Corridor, which incorporates the Encore on line casino and a 95-acre ExxonMobil tank farm that “is being sold” and doubtlessly changed into a mixed-use growth.
Everett has permitted 5,000 models of housing in these two areas to this point, and has plans to double that, Monty stated.
“The Silver Line is really critical to our future development plans,” he stated. “I think our basis for this project is to support that development in a sustainable way.”
The MBTA stated it launched the Silver Line Extension, SL3, from South Station to Chelsea, in 2018. And it’s conducting an evaluation to review the advantages, feasibility and value of latest SLX route choices that would supply “high quality transit” from Chelsea by way of Everett, and onto Somerville, Cambridge and/or Boston.
Three of the T’s seven proposed routes would join Chelsea to the Orange Line by way of the present SL3 route, and 4 would hyperlink Everett and Chelsea to Kendall or downtown Boston as a part of a brand new SL6 service. The choices will probably be mentioned throughout a public assembly on Dec. 13.
MBTA spokesperson Lisa Battiston stated final week that one of the simplest ways to attach these communities could also be by way of a mixture of an SL3 and SL6 possibility. Final suggestions will probably be made throughout a gathering this winter.
“We think it’s very feasible,” Monty stated, explaining that the mission might be applied in phases and funded by way of state and federal cash. “It really is a priority for an area that is growing so quickly and that today has such poor transit (access).”
Source: www.bostonherald.com”