New proposal would end at Sullivan, with bus service to Assembly

By George P. Hassett

A much-hyped transit project expected to connect Assembly Square to research centers, universities and Logan Airport could skip the city for a stop in Boston if state officials choose a new plan unveiled this week.

Ned Codd, manager of planned development for the state, presented a new option for the Urban Ring at a public meeting Monday in Boston. If adopted, the new plan would feature a stop at Sullivan Station instead of the previously proposed location of Assembly Square. The state chose to consider Sullivan after meeting with city officials in Somerville who were skeptical that Assembly Square’s roadways could handle the bus lines needed to accommodate the project, Codd said. A plan by Boston officials to lessen congestion on Rutherford Avenue also made Sullivan an option, he said.

Under the new proposal, Assembly Square would still be served by the Urban Ring – a sprawling public transit system that would run in a roughly circular ring, connecting most of greater Boston – just not as well. Instead of buses running on traffic-free, dedicated roadways, a bus connection traveling through regular traffic would run from Sullivan to Assembly.

The state’s proposal raises questions about the future of possibly the city’s most important development project. An Urban Ring link to Assembly Square would connect the area’s future mixed-use development to employment centers and major educational and medical institutions in Boston and Cambridge. It is considered to be an integral part of attracting 5 million square feet of office space to the development that would provide a much needed boost to the city’s tax base. The developers of Assembly Square, Federal Realty Investment Trust, are also legally obligated to build that much office space.

City officials, however, do not seem to be outraged about possibly being left out of a direct connection to the Urban Ring.

City spokesman Tom Champion said the project is not expected to be built until 2020 and stressed that no decisions have been made concerning Assembly Square.

‚ÄúThe Urban Ring is not abandoning Somerville,‚Äù said Dick Garver of the Boston Redevelopment Authority at Monday’s meeting. ‚ÄúSomerville is abandoning the Urban Ring.‚Äù

Calls to Federal Realty for this story went unreturned.

Alderman-at-Large William A. White said he would put in an order at the next Board of Aldermen meeting asking the city’s director of planning and development, Monica Lamboy, to discuss the issue with the aldermen.

Codd said state transit officials “recognize that it is very important to provide service to Assembly Square as part of the Urban Ring.” And Champion said city officials are not “abandoning the Urban Ring” as Garver suggested. “It is both inappropriate and premature to suggest that Somerville has walked away from the Urban Ring.”