Ellin Reisner is president of Somerville Transportation Equity Partnership. Alan Moore represents Friends of the (Somerville) Community Path. Ellin Reisner and Alan Moore (The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries of The Somerville News belong solely to the authors of those commentaries and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville News, its staff or publishers.) Ever hopeful regarding the extensions of the Green Line and Community Path, Somerville residents should be cheered by comments made by the Massachusetts Secretary of Transportation Jeffrey Mullan on May 2 extolling the success of the Southwest Corridor Park. He noted that rather than "…dividing the neighborhood by an expressway, this neighborhood is drawn together by the Orange Line and by the Southwest Corridor Park." He went on to state that "this beautiful ribbon of green helps people get out of their cars and walk to the T station, or bike right to downtown Boston. Governor Sargent's decision forty years ago enabled the creation of this corridor that brings together the modes – walking, bicycling, and public transit – that represent not the past, but the future of transportation." When the Secretary's comments about the success of the Southwest Corridor Park were lauded in a recent Boston Globe Op-Ed by Lawrence Harmon, "A park that is the muscle and bone of the city" (May 5, 2010) it seemed like a "no brainer" that the extension of the Community Path in Somerville as part of the Green Line extension would be treated similarly by the Commonwealth. When we see broad public acknowledgement of the critical value of investments in green space that also provide for active transportation (i.e., walking and bicycling) as well as easy and attractive access to public transportation, we again raise our hopes that the State will change their present policy and "do the right thing" in Somerville.

Secretary Mullan and Lawrence Harmon both rightly recognized the foresight shown in the past by visionary government officials and civic activists in Boston on the 20th anniversary of the Southwest Corridor Park, which was constructed in conjunction with the Orange Line after local officials and activists successfully prevented construction of the Inner Belt – Southwest Corridor Highway (I-95) in that very corridor. Citing the health and environmental benefits of the Corridor Park, Secretary Mullan also pointed out that "these are transportation modes that enable people to get out of their cars," noting benefits that include reducing traffic congestion greenhouse emissions and improved air quality, and supporting smart growth development.

Given the widespread agreement about the benefits of linking green space, active transportation and pubic transportation, it does not make any sense to Somerville residents that MassDOT continues to resist combining construction of the Somerville Community Path from the planned Lowell Street Station and along the Green Line Extension corridor to Lechmere Station and eventually to downtown Boston. The popularity of the Community Path, which includes its regular use by more than a thousand daily commuters heading to/from the Davis Square MBTA station, has prompted the City of Somerville to work on extending it a half mile from Cedar Street to Central St. in Somerville, which is still two miles short of Lechmere in Cambridge.

Ever since the state agreed to honor the legal commitment to extend the Green Line through Cambridge, Somerville and Medford to meet Federal air quality requirements, Somerville residents have been advocating for the extension of the heavily utilized Community Path along with the Green Line. Not only is the joint construction more cost effective it really is the only feasible approach because of the shared retaining walls and bridge underpasses of the Green Line and the Path. The Friends of the Community Path, the Somerville Transportation Equity Partnership, the Somerville Bicycle Committee, and others recognize the value that the Path could bring by ultimately connecting the Minuteman Bikeway beyond the Alewife and Davis Square Red Line MBTA stations all the way into Boston along four planned Green Line stations.

Ray LaHood, Secretary of the Federal Department of Transportation has initiated policy changes to encourage transit projects to include access to transit for bicyclists and pedestrians. Seeing strong support for the benefits of combining bicycle and pedestrian access with public transportation at the federal level, and the Massachusetts Secretary of Transportation's acknowledgement of those benefits in his praise of the vision shown 20 years ago for the Southwest Corridor Park, Somerville Community Path supporters would like the State to apply that same vision to the Green Line Extension. Such a vision would include the construction of the Community Path elements of the Green Line in the application for federal New Starts funding for the Green Line Extension. If that happens, then, perhaps we can look forward 20 years from the opening of the Green Line Extension (expected to open in 2014) with very similar observations of the Community Path's value as a much needed ribbon of green in Somerville. Among the many ways the Path will serve Somerville is the way it will add much needed greenspace and link Somerville's neighborhoods that have been fractured for years by major highways and rail corridors that slice through the city and restrict access across neighborhoods.