Getting Lynn and out easier
T studying transit options, possible Blue Line extension
The MBTA plans to take a new, hard look at how you get in and out of Lynn — including the long-awaited Blue Line extension.
“We’re still waiting for the Blue Line, but so were my grandparents,” Lynn at-large City Councilor Brian Fields told the Herald with a laugh. But, he added, “There’s a real need for it.”
The T announced yesterday that it has issued a request for proposals for a study of transit options for the North Shore city.
“Access to high quality, affordable, and reliable multi-modal transportation is vital to the revitalization and continued economic growth in the city of Lynn,” said Lynn Mayor Thomas M. McGee.
The consultant ultimately hired would take a look at various modes of transportation, including ferries, buses and the commuter rail, which already goes through Lynn, a city with a poverty rate higher than the state average and a population heavily reliant on public transit. This, the T said, would include an assessment of rapid transit — the Blue Line.
That line runs from downtown Boston through East Boston and into Revere, ending at the former Wonderland dog racing track, less than 3 miles from the middle of Lynn.
What’s currently being bid out is merely a study — not any specific project. What a consultant comes up with would include the costs of any projects. The T said yesterday that there’s no cost estimate for the Blue Line extension.
“The Transit Action Plan will include assessment of rapid transit strategies, as well as those for bus, commuter rail, and water transportation,” MassDOT spokeswoman Lisa Battiston said yesterday. “The plan will involve evaluating and narrowing strategies based on analysis of the relative trade-offs and costs and benefits.”
Inquiries by people answering the RFP are due Dec. 10, with the final proposals due 10 days later.
In the T’s “Focus40” plan for the next couple of decades, the Blue Line extension is filed under “big ideas” — something to consider down the road, but not an immediate priority.
“Lynn’s historic Downtown would be positioned to attract jobs and companies priced out of Boston’s core but desiring to retain transit access to Boston’s talent pool,” the long-term plan states, before adding that a plan such as the one being bid out now is the way to figure out what will work best. “While this could be a Blue Line extension, it could also be part of rethinking how we use our commuter rail system.”