Transit

More Silver Line delays

by Ben Geman

WE'RE ALL WAITING for replacement service.

As the MBTA proceeds with plans to replace the elevated train that once thundered along Washington Street, evidence continues to surface that the plans may prove inadequate -- and face even more delays.

The T's proposal is to link Dudley Square to downtown with new, clean-burning buses instead of the fume-spewing diesel buses that now serve the route. Last week, Dennis Dizoglio, the MBTA's director of planning, said it would be an "experiment" to see if the 60-foot compressed-natural-gas buses would avoid heavy traffic. Planners say the buses will run in reserved lanes.

Whether cars stay out of those lanes will help determine if the new service really is a replacement for the old elevated Orange Line, which stopped running in 1987 and was supposed to be replaced long ago -- one agreement called for new service in 1994. Critics, who want the old El replaced with light-rail trolleys, say it would be impossible to keep the buses out of traffic (see "Last Stand on Washington Street," News and Features, March 3). The MBTA plans to start running the new buses in 2002.

The new buses are part of the $1.35 billion Silver Line plan, which will also include a new underground bus system designed to run along the South Boston Waterfront and to the airport. MBTA planners envision a separate tunnel section that would link the two pieces of the project in 2008. This section would bring the buses from Dudley underground near Chinatown, connect to the Boylston Street station and the Orange Line, and then go to South Station.

The new tunnel section is key -- the Silver Line is plainly not "replacement service" unless it links the buses from Dudley Square underground to the city's subway system. Dizoglio said last week that the tunnel would cost $700 million. The MBTA is seeking federal money for 80 percent of that cost -- funds not yet secured.

With the $1.4 billion cost overruns in the Big Dig, securing federal transportation money for state projects, especially in Boston, could be tough in coming years. Congressman Michael Capuano, whose district includes part of the Silver Line route, seems skeptical of the 2008 date, especially if the Republicans maintain control of Congress and take the White House. "I would not hang my hat on that date, and anyone who does is a little naive," he says. Adds another congressional source: "It is somewhere between a long shot and a Hail Mary pass."

MBTA spokesman Brian Pedro acknowledges that Big Dig cost overruns could affect state transit funding. And the MBTA has not begun asking the state's congressional delegation about securing funding for the new tunnel. Still, Pedro says that despite the Big Dig mess, the 2008 date is a realistic goal to shoot for. "We are 100 percent behind this project," he says.