The Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) has settled its lawsuit with the MBTA.

The suit arose after the state appeared to be reneging on promises it made to extend MBTA and public transportation services, as part of the deal to build the depressed Central Artery / Third Harbor Tunnel.

I'm mostly happy, although I think the state could have been forced to do a lot more.

Here's what we'll see:

* Extension of the Green line from Lechmere through Somerville to West Medford;
* Renovation of the Fairmont commuter rail line through Dorchester and Mattapan, iwth four new stops;
* Upgrades to the Blue line so all stations can handle six car trains;
* approval of Greenbush commuter rail (um, isn't this already about to be completed?);
* Cancellation of plans to bring the E Line back to the Arborway (some in the neighborhood will be happy about this; I'm not, I want it back);
* 1,000 new parking spaces (great, bring on congestion pricing, then!).

And, the big news ...

The state must also prepare a final design of the Red-Blue connector, linking the Blue Line at Government Center with the Red Line's Charles Street/MGH station.

Whoa. That's news to me.

Apparently, the Blue line's Bowdoin Station will eventually close, for good. It is currently the least-used station, according to published reports, and closes after six PM and on weekends, already.

The Red-Blue connector will bring the final link to the system, allowing anyone on one line to get on another line, albeit sometimes completely out of the way.

Source: Mass. settles transit lawsuit with CLF - Boston Business Journal