June 2011

Thursday, June 16, 2011 - 7:00pm

Agenda

  • Follow-up on 77 Bus
  • Status updates
  • - St. James
  • - Pemberton Farms
  • - Hope Fellowship Church

Follow-up on 77 Bus

The MBTA received a $10M grant 2 years ago to improve some 15 routes including 77. This is one of the MBTA's busiest routes, and is scheduled for an interval of 7 minutes during peak hours, 10-15 minutes at other times. The project is capital improvements only, not operating funds. This means that the major tool is to modify location and size of bus stops. The planners felt that service would be improved by eliminating underused stops, possibly relocating a few to maintain inter-stop distances or to make them longer (40 fooot minimum). They presented a preliminary map of their proposed changes. Another meeting, showing updated recommendations, is planned for the fall. The topic of bunching came back up during discussion. The MBTA is working on improvements in operational tools such as hand-held computers with displays and online dispatching maps.

Status updates:

St. James:

Two lawsuits have been filed in Middlesex Superior Court, one against the Planning Board and one against the Historical Commission, both naming additional parties including St. James, the Episcopal Diocese, and Oaktree Development. This puts the project on hold until the suits are resolved.

Pemberton Farms

They do have plans for expansion, but do not expect to do so for a couple of years.

Hope Fellowship Church

No new news.