There wasn't much consolation in learning that Dorchester's turnout rate in last week's primary election matched the citywide average. The fact that roughly one in three Dorchester voters made it to the polls last week is certainly nothing to brag about.

By our estimation, about 16,513 in Dorchester precincts made the effort to vote- out of approximately 55,474 who were eligible. That's just not good enough.

Who's to blame?

First of all, start with the people who didn't come out that day. They're to blame for not 'bothering' or for not caring enough about their own community to vote. Remember, the number eligible to vote isn't even the number of people living here. It's the number of people who actually registered to vote.

There is a sinking feeling in this city that voter apathy- negligence may be more like it- is only going to get worse. Last year, a group called Boston Vote put out a fascinating report on ways to improve voter activity in the city. The ideas ranged from the radical- like making election day a holiday- to the simple, like launching programs to teach school kids about voting.

To our knowledge, none of the recommendations from that report have been advanced by city or state government.

Our leadership needs to get serious about this problem. Meanwhile, let's resolve to get those numbers up in November. There are several important decisions in front of the electorate and the collective voice of the city neighborhoods can not sit this one out.

Red Line Anxiety Running High

As we report this week, the volunteers who have been charged with monitoring the MBTA's plans for modernizing four Dorchester Red Line stations are more than a little frustrated and anxious right now. They are worried that the T isn't taking their suggestions seriously- and they also fret that the money made available won't be enough to do the job right.

It's hard to blame these folks for being nervous. It's coming down to crunch time in the Red Line project. The current schedule has work starting next year.

The advisory committees have a huge responsibility on their shoulders- and so do our elected officials, not to mention the folks at the T. But our neighbors serving as advisors are volunteers, they're not getting paid to do this work. They are doing it because they care about this community and they deserve our respect and praise.

In our lifetimes, there's only going to be one chance to get these stations right. We've suffered through years of neglect and third-class service.

Now that our protests have finally been given a hearing, we fully expect this project to be on par with other improvements in the MBTA system. We've watched patiently as South Boston, Cambridge and other communities have seen tremendous improvements- and rightly so.

Now it's our turn.

We're not asking for anything more than anyone else- and we expect nothing less. The eyes of Dorchester will be on these advisory committees and our elected officials. The MBTA says it will be coming out with detailed plans soon. We expect that our chosen leaders will scrutinize them carefully- and if they are not up to snuff, the T will have to make changes accordingly.

Let's get this right and make our stations something to be proud of at long last.