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Yesterday, Massachusetts Transportation Secretary James Aloisi Jr. recommended a preferred alternative for extending the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's (MBTA) Green Line light-rail system.

Pending federal funding, the line would be extended from a relocated Lechmere Station to a Mystic Valley Parkway/Route 16 station along MBTA's Lowell Line. The proposed extension is part of a joint effort by MBTA and the Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation (EOT) to add transit-rail service to East Cambridge, Somerville and Medford, and advance community plans for "smart growth" and urban redevelopment.

MBTA and EOT now will conduct the Draft Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Assessment for the corridor. Construction is scheduled to begin by 2012 and be complete by 2014's end. The extension is expected to attract an additional 8,900 riders per day by 2030.