With the latest round of community meetings on the Green Line extension through Cambridge, Somerville and Medford set to begin, Heather Van Aelst and her neighbors prepared for another battle. However, the member of the Brickbottom Condo Trust was thrilled to learn yesterday that MassDOT abandoned a proposal to locate a noisy maintenance facility 50 feet from their Somerville condo complex.
“Instead of having to fight one of the big pieces we can focus on how to make [the overall project] better,” Van Aelst said. “We still have a lot of concerns; both lines run next to us and we still have a lot of mitigation concerns. We basically want to make sure those concerns are addressed and the project can be done as well as it can be.”
The less obtrusive location for the MBTA garage was approved yesterday by MassDOT, setting a positive tone as the meetings start.
“It sends the right message to constituents and stakeholders,” said Somer-ville Mayor Joseph Curtatone.
“As with anything we need to get to the fine-tuning but this is a major step in a positive direction.
“We’re excited. Let’ s get the thing built.”
