Photo: WBZ NewsRadio
ARLINGTON, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — A push to bring the MBTA Red Line to Arlington has received a big assist from Beacon Hill.
It was in 1976 when state lawmakers passed a law banning the T from constructing a station within 75 yards of Arlington Catholic High School, scuttling plans for a Red Line extension.
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Arlington leaders at the time supported the ban, but nearly 50 years later, the town's current leadership calls it a mistake.
"We’ve now demonstrated that Arlington wants this," said Arlington School Committee Chair and Town Meeting member Paul Schlichtman. "There’s quite an active 'extend the Red Line' movement in town."
Gov. Maura Healey signed a repeal of the ban into law in December, paving the way for those old T extension plans to return.
"In many ways, that’s symbolic," Schlichtman told WBZ NewsRadio Wednesday. "It’s telling the MBTA and policymakers that Arlington is not the town that is anti-transit."
Schlichtman said the idea is still a long way from reality, but the decades-long ban is one major hurdle that is now out of the way.
"We’re certainly righting history for the town of Arlington, the very least," Schlichtman said. "The next thing we want is to get a feasibility study going, because the plans are already drawn. We’ve gone past the final environmental review back in the 1970s."
WBZ's Madison Rogers (@MadisonWBZ) reports.
