Arlington Town Meeting seeks repeal of 1980 Red Line Extension ban
Arlington Town Meeting voted 145-54-11 to seek repeal of a state law that prohibits the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority from planning or constructing a Red Line extension beyond its current terminus in Arlington. The vote (Article 30) occurred during the seventh session of the annual town meeting on May 18, 2026.
Chapter 504, Section 16 of the Acts of 1980, prohibits the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority “from further planning or construction of the red line northwest rapid transit extension beyond a point on the so-called Lexington Branch railroad right of way located six hundred feet more or less northwesterly of Route 2 unless specifically authorized to do so by law.” This provision was tacked onto a law providing for easements and air rights required for the construction of the Red Line tail track west of Alewife Station in Cambridge and Arlington.
Here’s a brief history behind the 1980 law.
Most of the drama surrounding the possible extension of the Red Line through Arlington took place in the 1970s, culminating with a cluster of ballot questions added to the 1977 Annual Town Election. Funding dried up, the MBTA lost interest, and final construction was moving toward completing the terminus at Alewife.
The T needed a series of easements to complete the so called “tail track” west of Alewife Station. The bulk of Chapter 504 of the Acts of 1980 granted these temporary and permanent easements. Chapter 504 was also an opportunity to drive a stake through the heart of any future thoughts of a Red Line Extension into Arlington by prohibiting further planning or construction of the Red Line, along the Lexington Branch right-of-way, beyond Thorndike Field.
This law took a dead project and rendered it even deader. It was a dead end to a dead end, cloaked in the shroud of 1977 Arlington politics.
Arlington has become one of the most transit-friendly towns in the Commonwealth. Instead of rezoning our golf courses to comply with the MBTA Communities Act, we rezoned parcels along the Broadway and Massachusetts Avenue corridors to generate transit-oriented housing. We are now at the top of the list of communities encouraging pro-transit growth, and at the bottom of the list of MBTA priorities.
This strong positive vote sends a simple message: we want the repeal, we want the study, we want to be included in future transit planning. Arlington's legislators can use this result as evidence that Arlington wants a seat at the transit planning table.