Following a local group’s claim that the MBTA intends to sell its Arborway Yard land rather than ever build a planned bus facility, neither they nor elected officials seem to have had recent meetings with the MBTA to discuss the project.
Meanwhile, the MBTA repeated previous statements to the Gazette, saying that the agency will move forward with the project’s first phase, which includes the demolition and removal of the building at 500 Arborway.
The Community Planning Committee for the Arborway Yard, which advised the T for years on planning the bus yard, announced last month that it believes the T won’t move forward.
CPCAY member Pam Bender told the Gazette last month that CPCAY has not met with the MBTA in “some time.” It is unclear whether CPCAY has requested to meet with the MBTA again. Numerous Gazette calls to Bender were not returned.
“If the CPCAY has questions for the MBTA, the group may certainly ask them,” MBTA spokesperson Joe Pesaturo told the Gazette this week.
City Councilor Matt O’Malley told the Gazette last week that he has not met with the MBTA recently either, but that he is willing to support the CPCAY in their efforts.
“CPCAY has shown the patience of Job for a decade and a half,” he said. “I think that our job is to fund the Arborway yard, make sure the current governor is able to fulfill his promise, and work alongside the next governor to make sure that’s done.”
“It’s a promise gone unfulfilled for a decade-and-a-half. This is always on my list when I talk to someone at state level,” he added.
State Sen. Sonia Chang-Díaz also has not been in recent contact with the MBTA, though she told the Gazette this week that she is in “ongoing contact with the CPCAY and other community members.”
She also called for the MBTA to fulfill the “long-overdue promise they made to the community.”
State Rep. Liz Malia did not return a Gazette call.