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Boston's Morning Newsletter
The T is planning to cut 2 Green Line stops. Here's what to know
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Watch out for yet another water main break if you’re commuting through Newton.
Now, to the news:
So long, farewell: It takes 13 Green Line stops to go between Kenmore Square and Cleveland Circle, as you travel along Beacon Street through Brookline. But two years from now, that number will be reduced to 11. In a 143-page environmental filing this week, the MBTA quietly unveiled plans to remove and consolidate several C branch stops by the end of 2026. As StreetsBlog first reported yesterday, it’s part of the T’s larger effort to upgrade its street-level Green Line stops to comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act.
- So… which stops? The plan calls for the removal of Kent Street. Meanwhile, the Brandon Hall and Fairbanks Street stops between Coolidge Corner and Washington Square will be consolidated into a single station, with a new ADA-compliant ramp.
- Why did the T pick these stops? The T held meetings with the town of Brookline, and a key point that emerged is these stations are super close together. Kent Street is a five-minute walk from the closest stops in both directions. Brandon Hall and Fairbanks Street are even closer to each other than that. The T says the changes will make rides on the C branch about 30-60 seconds faster. (Officials also said closing and consolidating these stops will save trees, another Brookline priority.)
- Why does this sound familiar? The T recently did the same thing with the B branch, consolidating several tightly clustered stops.
The power of the sun: Are we finally nearing a breakthrough in nuclear fusion? Devens-based Commonwealth Fusion Systems announced yesterday it will build the world’s first commercial fusion power plant down in the suburbs of Richmond, Virginia.
- Why it matters: Experts believe fusion — not to be confused with fission, the already in-use form of nuclear power — has almost limitless potential as a clean energy source. (It’s the same type of energy that powers stars.) “ If the world can figure out fusion energy, we like to say that will be the last new energy source that the world needs,” Kristen Cullen, the VP of global policy and public affairs for CFS, told WBUR’s John Bender. However, the science of harnessing the fusion process and turning it into a steady stream of energy has been so plagued by false starts, it’s become a running joke.
- The timeline: According to CFS, the plant is expected to start delivering plasma-fueled power to the grid by the early 2030s — enough to power about 150,000 homes. But first, they plan to demonstrate their technology’s efficacy with a pilot project in Massachusetts; they say it will produce plasma in 2026 and “net fusion energy shortly after.”
On Beacon Hill: State lawmakers unveiled a compromise yesterday on substance abuse legislation that is making more news for what it didn’t include: safe injection sites. The latest bill — which is expected to pass — dropped Senate-proposed language to allow cities and towns to open such sites, also known as overdose prevention centers. (You might recall the Senate’s late addition of that language this past summer did not sit super well with House Speaker Ron Mariano.)
- What does the bill include? It primarily focuses on expanding access to the opioid reversal drug naloxone and requiring it’s covered by insurers. Read the full fact sheet here.
- Opioid-related overdose deaths in Massachusetts dropped by 10% last year, but remained above 2,000 for the eighth-straight year.
RIP: Francis Bellotti, the former Massachusetts lieutenant governor and attorney general, died at 101, his family announced yesterday. As The Boston Globe reports, the fierce Democrat was known by some as the “raging bull of Massachusetts politics.” He’s credited with professionalizing an attorney’s general office, inspiring a national model and training ground for future judges. Read his obituary here.
P.S.— Tonight at CitySpace, we’re continuing one of our favorite WBUR holiday traditions: a reading of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” by our hosts and reporters. There’ll be music, cookies, hot cocoas and complimentary samples of Arlington Brewing’s winter ale — appropriately named “Marley’s Ghost.” Tickets support the local women’s homeless shelter Rosie’s Place. Buy them here.
