By Harry Kane

For the  long bemoaned Green Line Extension street trolley project, there shone a light at the end of the tunnel. According to a new proposal, unveiled Monday, November 14, a new locked-in-end-date for the completion of two green line stations has been scheduled, as part of the “phasing plan” by the state transportation department.

In November of 2016 the Union Square and Washington St. stations will open.

The schedule was revealed at the Ward 3 ResiStat community meeting, where the new Green Line Extension (GLX) timeline was made public.

City Director of Transportation Hayes Morrison said, “The next step is that this project actually receives bonds from the state, and we’re awaiting that any day now.”

A total of 490 million dollars of state funds has been pledged for the GLX.

GLX will unlock development opportunities valued at more than 5 billion dollars, according to the statistics.

“We’re moving forward with a phased approach for implementation of the Green Line with our partners at MassDot,” Morrison said.

The initial phase will start in autumn of 2012 with bridgework on Medford Street nearby the Target store.

“This is different than the original timeline of having the stations open and operating by 2014, but it is a compromise over the schedule that was released by the state, which was released earlier in the summer,” Morrison said.

Alderman At Large Jack Connolly has spent hundreds of hours poring over details on this project. “The phased approach is a way for us to make sure that once the project has started it will be moving forward. It’s so critical that all of us maintain our voices, our presence, and our concerns,” he said.

More information can be found on the city Web site and there will also be community meetings as the project develops.

“Everyone is onboard,” Connolly enthused.