Study: MBTA financial crisis jeopardizes Green Line extension
By George P. Hassett

A lack of funds and rocky financial planning may stop the Green Line extension to  Somerville in its tracks.
  According to an independent study released last week, the long-promised project has no finance plan and can not be completed because of money woes at the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). The study, conducted by the Transportation Finance Commission, said the state‚Äôs public transportation system faces a $20 billion shortfall in the next 20 years just for necessary maintenance and repairs without including new highway and rail projects.

  The biggest new project by far is the Green Line extension through Somerville and into Medford. It is slated to cost $608 million and the state is legally bound to complete it as a result of a 1991 agreement with the Conservation Law Foundation.
However, according to last week’s report the state has no solid plan to build the project and could not even afford the operating expenses if the project was to be built.
  ‚ÄúThere is no plan for how to fund the Somerville project. There may be a commitment, but what good is a commitment without the money to pay for it?‚Äù said Steve Silveira, the chairman of the commission who prepared the report, in an interview with The Somerville News. ‚ÄúThe Green Line is in jeopardy because the entire system is in jeopardy, a shortfall of $15 to $19 billion should raise concerns for everybody.‚Äù 
  State Rep. Carl M. Sciortino, D-Somerville, said funding the project is a ‚Äúmassive problem.‚Äù
  ‚ÄúWe have the commitment, what we don‚Äôt have is financing,‚Äù he said.
However, state Rep. Denise Provost, D-Somerville, said funding for the Green Line extension will not come from an MBTA budget and emphasized the project is a  legal commitment the state must fulfill. Other projects will likely be pushed aside because of the financial crisis but not the Green Line extension, she said.
  ‚ÄúI expect the state to build the Green Line because they are legally obligated to do so,‚Äù she said. ‚ÄúThe other projects will probably be pushed back just like the Green Line has been.‚Äù
  Carrie Russell, an attorney with the Conservation Law Foundation said the state could lose federal transportation funding if they do not construct a Green Line plan.   
  Sciortino said funding for the extension will come from a combination of state and federal sources. Last week, the state legislature passed a $100 million transportation bond bill which will fund the environmental review and early design and planning stages. Provost said she expects the money to fund the first two years of Green Line work. The entire project is slated to be finished by 2014.
  Despite the bleak outlook of last week‚Äôs report, Jose Martinez, spokesman for Gov. Deval Patrick, said the state is fully committed to moving forward with extending the Green Line through Somerville.
  ‚ÄúThe report is right, it is a serious situation. Is there a construction plan for the Green Line? No not yet but we‚Äôre moving forward one step at a time,‚Äù he said.
  Russell said the report identifies the main challenges to Green Line construction and is a step in the right direction.
  ‚ÄúThis isn‚Äôt an insurmountable problem,‚Äù she said.
  Other upcoming projects which may not have funding are commuter rail improvements on the Fairmount line, a connector between the Red Line and Blue Line, a Blue Line extension and Silver Line improvements. The Green Line has the best chance of being built because of the state‚Äôs legal obligation to do so, said state Sen. Patricia D. Jehlen, D-Somerville.
  ‚ÄúThe state doesn‚Äôt have enough money for a lot of things but they do have a legal obligation to build the Green Line in Somerville,‚Äù Jehlen said.
  A follow up report is expected to be released within the next month. It will set forth recommendations to solving the problems raised in the initial report, Silveira said.