Green Line

START OF WORK: APRIL 2018

General Information
After years of community advocacy and planning, the GLX was given an official “Notice to Proceed” in December 2017, and work is already underway with completion expected by late 2021, which is a contractual obligation by the GLX contractors. The GLX contract team is currently mobilizing at each of the six station areas, and you will begin to see work happening in April around each of these station areas (Union Square, Washington Street, Gilman Square, Lowell Street, Ball Square, and College Ave. in Medford). Preliminary work throughout the month of April will include tree removal, digging test pits, and pest control. More significant construction is expected to begin in summer 2018. Note: you may start to see some larger equipment along the rail corridor beginning in the spring; however, this does not mean that excavation or major construction is beginning at that time. Arrival of equipment is part of the pre-construction preparation.
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The MBTA has issued the Notice to Proceed to GLX Constructors, the joint venture it selected to complete the design and build the extension to Somerville and Medford, and the first $100 million in federal funds has been released. "Federal Funds Issued for MBTA Green Line Extension Project" (MBTA) "The Federal Transit Administration today informed the MBTA Green Line Extension (GLX)…

MassDOT recently updated the community on the possible extension of the Green Line from College Ave to Mystic Valley Parkway (Route 16). Specifically, they walked everyone through a Notice of Project Change (NPC), which describes potential environmental impacts. View the slides to see this additional project's scope and information on noise and vibration, land use, transportation, and more. Some points to consider: The U-Haul…

It's official: Today the Fiscal and Management Control Board unanimously approved the recommendation to hire GLX Constructors to build the Green Line Extension! View the slides. "Green Line extension contract officially approved" (Boston Globe) "The award comes about two years after the board halted all progress on the project due to escalating costs that were projected to get as high as $3 billion. After…

Great news: GLX Constructors (a joint venture of several engineering and construction firms: website) submitted the winning $1.08 billion bid for the GLX design-build contract, coming in below the price limit and including all six of the "additive options"! That means the project will include:  Platform canopies Additional elevators at select stations Public art A Community Path ramp to Chester Ave (by the cross…

As part of a regional partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, and the Cities of Cambridge and Medford, the City of Somerville is seeking residents to serve on the Green Line Extension (GLX) Working Group. Major construction activities are expected to begin in early 2018, and the GLX Community Working Group will provide a collaborative forum for information exchange between…

"Op-Ed: Build The Green Line Extension To Rt. 16" (Somerville Patch) "The GLX stop at Route 16 not only brings public transportation access to a number of environmental justice communities, but would connect a greater region of car-centric suburbs to help provide an easy, accessible transit option for thousands of people in the Medford, Arlington, and Somerville area and beyond. This…

The Green Line to College Ave is happening, but the original plan was to extend at least to Mystic Valley Parkway, and planning continues on that potential extension. The MBTA has now released a preliminary environmental document for this separate project. On October 17, 2017, the MBTA filed a Notice of Project Change (NPC) with the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs…

Thanks to Ken Krause for the following notes from Monday’s meeting at Somerville High School…

OVERALL PROJECT OVERVIEW

+ Program Manager John Dalton reported that the process of selecting a contractor to complete the design and construction of GLX Phase I was nearing completion. (Phase I would extend the Green Line from a relocated Lechmere Station to College Avenue in Medford, with a separate spur extending from Lechmere to Union Square in Somerville. Phase II would further extend the Medford leg of the extension to Route 16 on the Medford/Somerville border.)

+ Three joint ventures bid on the Phase I “design-build” contract, and two of the bids have been certified as being within the “affordability limit” of the remaining project budget of $1.319 billion (the total budget, including money already spent and for 24 new Green Line cars, is $2.289 billion).

+ It will not be known until the bids are opened publicly on November 17 whether any of them include any of the six “additive options” that were cut from the original project; bidders were asked to try to fit as many of these as possible into their proposals while remaining within the budget. The additive options, which must be added in this order of priority determined by the MBTA, are 1) Platform canopies at each station; 2) Additional elevators at select stations; 3) Public art; 4) Additional connection to the Community Path at Chester Street in Somerville; 5) Extension of the Community Path between East Somerville and Lechmere Stations. 6) Enhanced Green Line vehicle maintenance facility in Somerville.

+ The MBTA plans to announce the selected design-build contractor and issue a Notice to Proceed on December 11, 2017. “Right now,” Dalton said, “we have everything in place that we need to get this project off the ground by then end of this year.” The Green Line extension is anticipated to be in operation four years later, in December 2021. (more…)