Select Board affirms MBTA plan for C‑branch accessibility after debate over Pin Oak removals

The Brookline Select Board on Sept. 16 heard the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's presentation on a Green Line C‑branch accessibility project and affirmed the Tree Planting Committee's decision permitting the removal of nine public shade trees at the Tappan Street and Englewood Avenue stations, directing the MBTA to return to the board on Sept. 30 for a formal grant of location hearing. "This project will upgrade six stations by raising the platforms to 8 inches," MBTA planner Matt Conover told the board, describing platform changes, station consolidations and design work meant to make the entire C branch accessible.

Why it matters: the MBTA said the upgrades are part of systemwide work required by federal funding and legal agreements to make rapid transit accessible; town residents raised concerns that the work will remove mature roadside trees that contribute to Beacon Street's character and climate resilience. The Select Board and town staff pushed the MBTA for details on tree impacts, parking losses and changes made to generators and planting plans.

MBTA presenters described consolidated platforms, raised 8‑inch boarding platforms used elsewhere on the system, added wayfinding and lighting, and a plan to combine some stops to improve travel times. The agency said the new Type 10 low‑floor vehicles have a wider undercarriage that, in a few locations, conflicts with existing curbside trees. For Tappan Street the MBTA's engineers and an on‑track physical test identified a clearance conflict near the base/root flare of a 36‑inch diameter pin oak. The MBTA presented a lidar survey and a night‑time physical device run that it says measured a contact with the tree's root flare; staff said the device showed "about 2 and 3/8 inches" of overlap with an element representing the new vehicle undercarriage.

Brookline's urban forestry manager, Josh Schleifer, told the board the tree's root flare is structurally important and that excavating roots on multiple sides, or leaving the tree after root loss, could destabilize it. "I personally would not be comfortable with this significant of an interference between the train and the tree," he said.

Tree Planting Committee Chair Liz Erdman summarized the committee's hearing and its unanimous vote to permit the removals with a request for additional information on the pin oak; after receiving supplementary materials the committee kept its approval. The MBTA had described mitigation plans to replant trees and to install structural soils and fresh loam at planting beds; presenters said Englewood would receive 20 new trees in the work area and Tappan 10 new trees, with a one‑year maintenance/warranty period by the MBTA.

Disability advocates, including Jim Lee, chair of the Commission on Disability, urged swift action. "We support this project," Lee said, noting the long history of legal and federal pressure to make transit accessible and arguing that accessible platforms reduce safety risks and expand mobility for people with disabilities.

Residents and local groups pressed for more documentation of the MBTA's vehicle clearance testing and asked whether the agency had explored further design alternatives to save particular trees. The MBTA and town staff acknowledged those concerns; MBTA officials said they had explored many station locations and alignment options and had reduced projected parking losses and other impacts in response to town input.

After hearing public testimony, Select Board members asked detailed follow‑ups about the MBTA's tests, replanting specifications, the number of trees potentially affected by the corridor project and how the project fits with the town's bridle path plans. The board voted to affirm the Tree Planting Committee's decision to permit the nine removals at Tappan Street and Englewood Avenue (motion carried, 5‑0). The board also noted several associated meetings: the Commission on Disability and the Transportation Board were scheduled to review the project on Sept. 17; the Select Board will hold the grant of location hearing on Sept. 30.

What the vote does and does not do: the board's vote affirms the tree committee's approval of removals and the MBTA's replanting plan for these two stations; it does not approve a grant of location for station construction (that hearing is scheduled for Sept. 30). The MBTA said construction could begin as early as this fall if approvals move quickly or in spring if scheduling requires.

Looking ahead: MBTA staff said the corridor project has been through a multi‑year design process with 12 public engagements to date and that most of the C branch will be upgraded to accessibility standards when complete. The board and town staff asked the MBTA for continued coordination on tree protection measures during construction, a firm count and condition list for trees affected across the corridor, and clearer documentation on the physical testing relating to the Type 10 undercarriage clearance.

Ending note: Select Board members and town staff emphasized they will continue to press the MBTA on contractor protections for surviving trees, on long‑term maintenance of newly planted trees, and on coordination to minimize impacts to parking, the bridle path concept plan and neighborhood circulation.