By Sandra Storey / Special to the Gazette
People in Jamaica Plain have been waiting for a while for the Arborway E Line streetcar—to arrive in Hyde Square.
Some things are worth waiting for, and a 0.65-mile E Line extension from Heath Street in JP is one of them. Right now the extension is mentioned in Green Line section of the Focus 2040 Investment Plan for the MBTA as something planners are “imagining.”
The JP Observer reported back in 2015 that the Arborway Committee for Public Transportation (ACPT), a 501(c)3 nonprofit in Jamaica Plain, is promoting the project because it would mean that people living or visiting here could enjoy a one-seat ride to and from JP to Mission Hill, the Longwood Medical Area, Back Bay, Park Street Station and beyond.
Having a terminus in Hyde Square would be a boon to local businesses in Boston’s Latin Quarter, too.
“The importance of extending the service to Hyde Square is underscored by the fact that the square is an environmental justice neighborhood that lacks a rail connection to downtown Boston, which extending the service would address,” according to the ACPT website, arborway.org.
The Boston Planning and Redevelopment Agency (BPDA) has designated S. Huntington Avenue in JP as a “development corridor.”
“Development of multi-unit residential buildings there has already attracted hundreds of new residents to the area,” ACPT President Franklyn Salimbene said in an interview on Nov. 19.
Creating the short extension inside northern JP also makes sense from structural and financial perspectives, as it folds neatly into existing plans for improving the E Line, according to Salimbene.
New Type 10 accessible, longer streetcars are due to come into use on the line in 2027-2028. In preparation, plans already call for extending the dedicated right of way for streetcars from Brigham Circle in Mission Hill to the current last stop at Heath Street. The Heath Street terminus won’t work with the Type 10s, so going a little farther to the active Hyde Square area seems to be the natural, preferred alternative.
Several possibilities for a new Hyde Square terminus include putting a boarding platform in the middle of S. Huntington at the intersection of Moraine and Centre Streets with tracks on either side, according to the website.
Now, with the new infusion of money to the MBTA from what’s known as “the millionaires’ surtax,” the relatively small but important $50-60 million transportation project should get a green light from the state.
Funding for feasibility studies for the extension project was provided in laws passed by the Massachusetts legislature twice—both in 2020 and again 2022—the first for $420,000 and the second for “not less than $2 million.” The studies were not conducted.
When I reached out to state officials on this topic last week, the MBTA press office referred me to the state’s Department of Transportation (DOT). Their media relations office wrote: “…we respectfully decline further comment. Currently there is no funding for the plans to extend the Green Line. We appreciate your interest in the topic.”
The extension is also supported by the City of Boston Transportation Department; it is included in the City’s “Go Boston 2030 Plan.”
The following local organizations have endorsed the improvement over the years: The Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council, the Jamaica Pond Association, The Hyde Square Task Force, The Jamaica Pond Association, Angell Animal Medica; Center, Mount Pleasant Home, AstraZeneca Hope Lodge, Eden Properties (the Brynx development), and a coalition of Hyde Square merchants.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, State Rep. Samantha Montaño, State Rep. William MacGregor, State Sen. Liz Miranda and State Sen. Mike Rush signed a detailed letter in October, 2023 to Matthew J. Gorzkowwicz, Secretary of the Executive Office for Administration and Finance, advocating that money secured during two previous legislative sessions be released to conduct a feasibility study for the extension.
In his 2025 campaign for re-election, local District 6 City Councilor Ben Weber noted that the extension is “essential not only for mobility and climate goals, but also for equity….” according to arborway.com.
ACPT is collecting signatures in favor of the extension at Change.org.
Sandra Storey is a Jamaica Plain resident and publisher and editor emerita of the Jamaica Plain Gazette.