For nearly five decades, the Red Line has stopped at Alewife — a dead end that's shaped how tens of thousands of commuters get in and out of Concord, Lexington, and everywhere in between. Now, tucked into the state's new budget, a $50,000 study will finally ask the question residents have debated for generations: can it go further?
The provision, signed into law by Gov. Maura Healey, examines extending the Red Line 15 miles from Alewife to the Concord rotary — and also studies a dedicated bus line along the same route. State Rep. Michelle Ciccolo of Lexington sponsored it, with Rep. Simon Cataldo of Concord signing on as co-sponsor. "I think that this longtime discussion of a Red Line extension requires informed, fact-based answers," Cataldo said.
The Red Line has ended at Alewife since the 1980s, after 1970s plans to push it further into the suburbs collapsed under community opposition. A 1976 state law specifically barred the MBTA from building near Arlington Catholic High School, locking that decision in place for decades — until Healey repealed the law in December 2024, clearing the legal hurdle that had blocked this exact conversation.
Concord Select Board member Paul Boehm urged caution: "These public transportation pieces, they're all attractive. But I think we have to step back and say, 'What's practical and what do we want to do first?'" Caitlin Allen-Connelly of TransitMatters went further, arguing there isn't enough demand to support either a subway extension or bus rapid transit, and that "structural bottlenecks" along Route 2 could make dedicated bus lanes especially hard to build. Her preferred fix: boost frequency on the existing Fitchburg Line, which already serves Concord but currently runs only about once an hour during rush periods. Concord's own Transportation Advisory Committee agrees, having formally asked the MBTA to run trains every 30 minutes during morning and evening rush.
The timing isn't a coincidence. Concord is simultaneously weighing a redesign of the Route 2 rotary and redevelopment of the shuttered MCI-Concord prison site, where hundreds of new housing units are under consideration — growth that local officials say will need real transit solutions to avoid choking the roads. Officials are also exploring joining the Lowell Regional Transit Authority, which could connect Concord, Acton and Maynard by bus, with one committee member floating a route that links directly to existing MBTA bus service between Hanscom Field and Alewife. Boehm called the LRTA option "a good focal point" to start the town's broader transit conversation.
The MBTA hasn't responded to questions about the study's timeline or scope, and no deadline has been announced. Cataldo said the Red Line extension and LRTA expansion "speak to the same general desire for improved regional transportation," but acknowledged it will ultimately come down to "priorities in a world of limited resources." In the meantime, Lexington's Lexpress local bus already connects riders to MBTA service at the Arlington Heights busway — a small taste of the regional connection this study could eventually expand.
