The MBTA is inching closer to extending the Silver Line 3 bus line through Everett to connect to Sullivan Square Station on the Orange Line in Charlestown.
The agency and the state’s department of transportation announced Friday that they are recommending a six-mile extension of Silver Line 3 bus service, including the addition of bus-only lanes, from its current terminus in Chelsea. The T also said it is “exploring funding opportunities” to move the project into the design and engineering phase.
The MBTA estimates that extending SL3 service to Sullivan Square will increase daily ridership on the route by more than 15,000 riders. The route currently has about 8,000 weekday riders, according to MassDOT data, more than it had before the COVID-19 pandemic.
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“Extending the SL3 to Sullivan Square will have a profound impact on thousands of riders, expanding access to our rapid transit system and a dozen more bus routes, amplifying more opportunities for jobs, education, and recreational activities,” said MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng in a statement.
This extension of the Silver Line 3 route will cost $95 million, including extending the Chelsea busway to 2nd Street and reconstructing local roadways to have bus-only lanes, the agency said. Spokesperson Lisa Battiston said design and construction could take around five years.
The MBTA and MassDOT studied whether and how to extend the Silver Line for three years, following previous studies released in 2019 and 2016 related to the same question. Extending the Silver Line was one of dozens of recommendations included in the T’s 2019-2040 planning report called Focus40, along with connecting the Red Line to the Blue Line and reducing wait times between subway trains to as few as three minutes.
Extending SL3 service further to Kendall Square in Cambridge or to downtown Boston needs more study, the T said, and would require more buses and and maintenance space.
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The T’s plan announced in 2022 to increase bus service system-wide by 25 percent over five years has stalled as the agency struggles to hire and keep bus drivers, and service still lags below pre-pandemic levels.
The Silver Line announcement comes as Everett is experiencing a development boom.
The Globe reported that between 2015 through 2021, Everett added 16 percent more housing — the most among communities in Greater Boston, according to the Metropolitan Area Planning Council. Today, there are nearly 1,600 additional units under construction in large buildings, according to real estate firm JLL, the most of any city or town in the region after Boston.
And Everett is making a big bet on transit: The city has reduced minimum parking requirements at new buildings, the Globe reported, in return for transit amenities like free T passes or shuttles.
The T said by extending SL3 service from Chelsea through Everett to Sullivan Square, residents will get increased service frequency outside of traditional morning and evening peak commuting hours and access to 345,000 jobs via a 45-minute transit commute.
The planned Silver Line extension also runs down Lower Broadway in Everett, near the site of a former power plant on the Mystic River being discussed on Beacon Hill for a new soccer stadium for the New England Revolution.
Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria said the extension will support Everett’s continued growth and reduce reliance on private vehicles.
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“The importance of the Silver Line’s ability to increase access to jobs and educational opportunities for all Everett residents cannot be understated and I am proud to endorse this commitment from the MBTA,” he said in a statement.
Taylor Dolven can be reached at taylor.dolven@globe.com. Follow her @taydolven.