What is the Urban Ring?
The Urban Ring is a State proposed 25-mile long transit project that would run in a roughly circular corridor just
outside of central Boston. The corridor passes through residential neighborhoods, employment centers and major
educational and medical institutions in Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Medford and Somerville.
Designed to provide more direct trips within the Urban Ring corridor, improve connections with the “spokes” of the
MBTA existing rapid transit system and relieve congestion in the core of the MBTA system, the Urban Ring also
offers opportunities for transit-oriented development and denser “smart growth” development around the many new
and improved stations it would provide.
The Urban Ring Phase 2 (see below) is expected to carry approximately 184,000 daily transit riders by offering
more direct connections (with links to 15 rapid transit stations, 7 commuter rail stations, and 122 MBTA bus
routes) and by providing bus rapid transit service (“BRT”) to enable buses to operate more like rapid transit,
including dedicated roadway, high frequency service, transit stations that are widely spaced, and advanced communications,
including reduced delay for BRT vehicles at traffic signals. All of these features would combine to provide fast,
frequent and high quality service to riders.
Project History
In order to coordinate planning activities in the Urban Ring corridor, in 1995 Mayor Thomas M. Menino entered into
the Circumferential Ring Regional Planning Compact (“Compact”) with Brookline, Cambridge,
Somerville, Everett, and Chelsea (“Compact Communities”). The purpose of the Compact was to forge collaboration
on planning and implementation on the Urban Ring. Together with the Boston Transportation Department, the BRA provides
coordination and staff services to the Compact.
Working with the Compact Communities, in April 2000 the Commonwealth of Massachusetts initiated a feasibility study,
known as a Major Investment Study (“MIS”), which recommended the basic route for the Urban Ring. The MIS
recommended that the project be carried out in three phases. Phase 1 would include increased bus service
in the urban ring corridor. Phase 2 would involve the creation of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) lines operating in
protected rights of way for portions of the corridor and improved connections to the existing MBTA radial
transit system. Phase 3 would add rail rapid transit for a portion of the corridor.
With the completion of the MIS in July 2001, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation
(EOT) initiated the environmental review of the project under the Massachusetts Environmental Protection Act (MEPA).
In turn, the MEPA office issued a scoping determination which treated the three phases as a single project, fixed
them as the plan against which future initiatives along the right of way would be evaluated, and permitted EOT to
proceed with a detailed Draft Environmental Review for Phase 2. Through the requirements of a Special Review Procedures (SRP), a Citizens Advisory Committee (“CAC”) was
established for the Urban Ring which includes the Compact Communities and adds other stakeholders with a
wide variety of perspectives on the project.
In May 2005, the Massachusetts Secretary of Environmental Affairs issued a Certificate for the Phase 2 DEIR, but
also required further study of new concepts and concerns. The State Executive Office of Transportation (EOT)
responded by preparing a environmental report designed to comply with both State and federal requirements.
This included a Revised Draft Environmental Impact
Report (RDEIR), intended to comply with State MEPA requirements, and a Draft Environmental Impact Statement
(DEIS), designed to meet federal environmental requirements. The combined report is referred to as the
“RDEIR/DEIS”.
In November 2008 EOT published the Draft RDEIR/DEIS, a copy of the Draft RDEIR/DEIS can be viewed at:
www.theurbanring.com/currentmaterials.asp?area=gen
Following publication of the RDEIR/DEIS, in March 2009 the Massachusetts MEPA office certified the RDEIR portion
of the document, affirming that it complied with State law while at the same time noting that it did not resolve
certain routing issues for the proposed project alignment. In particular, the RDEIR identified three alternative
alignments for the Longwood Medical Area Tunnel as well as a series of alternative routes through the City of
Cambridge to Boston and Allston. The technical term for the proposed route is the “Locally Preferred
Alternative” (“LPA”). The MEPA Certificate therefore directed EOT to submit a Notice of Project Change (NPC)
to include a plan and schedule to implement “early action items” (components of the Urban Ring that could be
implemented sooner rather than later) that could yield tangible results for the entire system.
In response, in June 2009 EOT published the NPC identifying certain alignment changes along with a broad plan for
implementing certain early action components of the Urban Ring. A copy of the NPC may be viewed at
www.theurbanring.com/currentmaterials.asp?area=gen .
The BRA has been integrating the proposed LPA into its East Boston, South Boston, Roxbury, Fenway, and
Charlestown planning and zoning activities.
Suspension of Project from MEPA Review
On January 22, 2010, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT, which merged EOT with other State
transportation departments) notified the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs that it was
suspending further environmental review for the Urban Ring Phase 2 project.
According to MassDOT’s, this decision, “was made in the context of the challenging fiscal environment for funding
MBTA expansion projects.” (Urban Ring Home Page, January 28, 2010, www.theurbanring.com)
While suspending MEPA review of the project, MassDOT committed to continue transportation planning, civic engagement,
and implementation of early action improvements within the Urban Ring corridor.
Project Status and Next Steps
MassDOT has signaled that it will proceed with aspects of the project following a three-part strategy:
(a) the implementation of bus rapid transit (BRT) service in high-value segments of the Urban Ring in a manner
consistent with the recommendations of the November 2008 Revised Draft Environmental Impact Report;
(b) the pursuit of other BRT elements, such as the MBTA’s ongoing Key Bus Routes initiative, as part of a
coordinated strategy of achieving BRT levels of service on other routes in the corridor; and
(c) continued planning, analysis, and civic engagement with the Citizen Advisory Committee and Compact
Communities for the full Project as an integrated system.
Further updates on the Urban Ring will be provided on this web page and on the MassDOT Urban Ring Home
page at www.theurbanring.com.
Current Urban Ring Route Map
As of this writing, the current Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA) route is memorialized in two documents,
the November 2008 RDEIR and the June 2009 NPC. The NPC amends certain portions of the LPA identified in the
RDEIR. The BRA and the Compact Communities anticipate that MassDOT will soon provide a single, consolidated
map showing the most current proposed LPA. Once this is available, a link to it will be posted on this web page.
Some segments of the routing remain unresolved. In particular, these include:
• The Fenway/LMA Tunnel
• The Charles River Crossing
• The Allston Connection
Resolution of these portions of the Urban Ring route will be resolved as funding becomes available.
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