Mrs. Poirier, a resident of lower Gore Street, was one
of many residents of East Cambridge to voice their opinion about the
Green Line Expansion and the various issues surrounding the impending
relocation of Lechmere Station at Wednesday evening's meeting at the
Kennedy-Longfellow Elementary School. While most attendees were in
agreement that the Green Line expansion is a positive endeavor, the
modest crowd of approximately 60 people were unanimously concerned
about pedestrian access across O'Brien Highway, the newly scaled-down
design of the station in comparison to that of the previously grandiose
North Point Development Designs, better signage and the historic
preservation of the current Lechmere Station.

The meeting, held
in the auditorium of the East Cambridge elementary school, began with
presentations from Project Managers Kate Victor of the Executive Office
of Transportation (EOT) and Kristine Wickham from the consulting firm
Vanasse Hangen Brustlin Inc., or VHB. Neither the Department of
Conservation and Recreation nor the Massachusetts Bay Transportation
Authority sent representatives to the meeting. According to Ms. Victor,
the relocation of Lechmere to the other side of O'Brien highway is an
integral piece of the functionality of the future Green Line and is
non-negotiable. The station will be relocated no later than December
31st, 2014, under legal obligation to the state.

While the
relocation of Lechmere Station is inevitable and will clearly
inconvenience the current residents of East Cambridge, the design teams
are still in the preliminary phases. There are many foreseeable
benefits as well, including providing transit to the currently
under-served areas of Somerville and Medford, reducing the number of
vehicles on local and residential roads and improving the air quality.
Ms. Victor made a strong point to welcome all concerns and suggestions
about the future of Lechmere in hopes of limiting inconvenience down
the line.

The East Cambridge Planning Team Working Group, a
group comprised of "concerned members of the Cambridge and Somerville
communities," distributed handouts addressing their major concerns
about the station relocation and the issues that the EOT, DCR and MBTA
need to address in order to gain the backing of the immediate
community, including providing a facelift to O'Brien and McGrath
Highways with wider sidewalks, trees and fewer lanes where possible to
create the feel of an "Urban Boulevard". They also hope to preserve the
current Lechmere Station and create and community space and open-air
market in order to create a gateway to East Cambridge.

Questions
about the MBTA's ability to meet the future needs and volume of future
riders was a of concern. The Green Line, notoriously slow and crowded,
drew skepticism from the entire auditorium about it's ability to meet
the future needs and accommodate the volume of riders that the EOT is
projecting will utilize the new lines. Ms. Victor, however met and
quelled the skepticism with the already proposed idea of running both
the E and D lines through to the Mystic Valley Station.

Questions
arose regarding the controversial maintenance facility proposed to
inhabit the large and potentially developable railroad property known
as Yard 8. Tempers sparked momentarily however Ms. Victor's calm voice
and rationale alleviated some of the tension, just as it had throughout
the evening regarding a slew of subjects. "No one wants a maintenance
facility but everyone wants the train." Victor said, "We have to strike
a balance somehow."