The Green Line extension was proposed in 2006 and only received funding in 2017. The proposed extension would run north from the Lechmere stop in Cambridge into Somerville and Medford. It is expected to be completed in 2021, according to the Boston Globe.
Adding six stops in Cambridge, Somerville, and Medford. The $2.3 billion project would add six stops over 4.7 miles. The Lechmere station is Cambridge is being moved slightly, and East Somerville is essentially getting two stops on the extension (if one includes the relocated Lechmere station, just pas the neighborhood's edge), and there will be several stops along the border between Somerville and Medford, including Ball Square, Union Square, and Gilman Square in Somerville; and College Avenue at Tufts University. The College Avenue stop will be only the second proper T stop in Medford, after the Wellington stop on the Orange Line, further east.
Expected to increase housing prices and spur real estate development. The T extension is expected to spur development, by making neighborhoods with new stops more convenient for commuters and businesses. Somerville's Union Square will be the site of 2.3 million square feet of mixed-use development with 950 residences as well as retail, office, hotel, lab, and arts space, according to Curbed Boston (and more here).
History. In 1990, Massachusetts agreed to extend the Green Line to offset the pollution increase within Somerville caused by the Big Dig. Despite this legal commitment, however, the Green Line Extension project lagged far behind schedule, prompting the City of Somerville and the Conservation Law Foundation to file a lawsuit to keep the project moving. In 2006, this litigation, with the help of community support and advocacy groups such as Somerville Transportation Equity Partnership (STEP) and the Union Square Task Force, finally brought about a multi-million dollar state investment in the Green Line extension from Lechmere Station into Somerville and Medford. Additional information at City of Somerville.