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Green Line extension
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Airplane noise

  • Noise levels (decibels)
    60 dB
    65 dB
    70 dB: defined as 'irritating' level of noise, comparable to a vacuum cleaner or television set at a loud volume.
    75 dB: defined as a constant irritating level of sound, comparable to a busy restaurant.
  • SOURCE: Noise Contour Map (2016) from Federal Aviation Authority.

    NOTE 1: Decibels are a logarithmic, not linear, measurement of noise levels. 70dB is twice as loud as 60dB, and 80 dB is twice as loud as 70dB. At 80dB, there is possible hearing damage over an eight hour exposure.

    NOTE 2: However, the noise contour map does not reflect all the neighborhoods that are affected by airplane noise. Please see our report for a chart of the neighborhoods where the most airplane noise complaints have been made.
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Flood zones

Zoning districts

    Green Line extension

 

 

Ball Square

Somerville

PLACEHOLDER #

 

 

East Somerville

Somerville

 

 

Inner Belt

Somerville

Contains: Brickbottom

 

 

Union Square

Somerville

Somerville

Contains: Boynton Yards, Duck Village
Historic image of Union Square.

Green Line extension

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.