Congressman says cities should pay for projects like Green Line Extension
Cambridge and Somerville recently agreed to pitch in a combined $75 million to help pay for the MBTA’s underfunded Green Line Extension.
At the time, Somerville mayor Joseph Curtatone said the deal was necessary, but lamented the “unprecedented” nature of sending money from municipalities to a state agency.
But Rep. Michael Capuano, whose congressional district includes Cambridge and Somerville, now sees that local-to-state payment as a model for everyone, he writes in The Boston Globe.
“When the Commonwealth makes a significant investment that will benefit one or two communities more than the state as a whole, it is fair to ask them to contribute,” he writes.
The Green Line Extension would extend the line into parts of Cambridge, Somerville, and Medford. Capuano argues that the state, in the interest of fairness, should set firm rules laying out when and how much cities should pay.
“Absent such an action, the local contributions extracted for the Green Line extension will look shortsighted and unfair,” he writes. “When the state expands our transportation system by building a new off-ramp, widening a road in a congested community, or increasing parking at a commuter rail station, that effort benefits specific communities, and they should be expected to contribute.”
You can read the full story at The Boston Globe.
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