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…)
"Green Line extension back on track; cos. certify build within budget" (Boston Herald) "Two companies have certified that they can design and build the Green Line extension to Somerville within the MBTA’s cost limit of $1.3 billion, allowing the long-anticipated project to advance to the next stage, officials said." Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack: "And while there’s lots more work to be…
"Bids for extending the Green Line are due Thursday" (Boston Globe) "...the agency is asking the bidders to revive parts of the project that were unceremoniously dumped in 2016 in the face of a billion-dollar overrun, such as canopies over train stops, and the final 3,000-foot stretch of a bike and walking path to be built alongside the rails. As part…
"Federal officials fork over cash for Green Line extension" (Boston Globe) "The Green Line extension has been going on for a while, but the Commonwealth has been paying all the actual dollars for it," said John Dalton, the MBTA manager overseeing the Green Line project. The payment, he said, is "comforting and reassuring, and underscores what we've been saying for a…
Great to see everyone at ArtBeat! Thanks for dropping by the STEP booth and supporting the Green Line Extension and Community Path. (more…)
"Construction underway on Green Line Extension" (Somerville Journal) "Work will occur between Harvard Street and north of College Avenue, per the project website. Abutters can expect to see 'soil excavation, trenching, and pile installation in the vicinity of Tufts University' in the coming weeks." "Green Line Extension Construction Underway, Weekend Work Added" (Somerville Patch) "Saturday daytime work was added to the…