Green Line Project Management Team Updates State on Progress

– Allison Goldsberry

The Green Line Extension Interim Project Management Team provided a project update at a recent joint meeting of the MassDOT Board of Directors and the MBTA Fiscal & Management Control Board.

The interim project management team is moving forward with a scaled back and less expensive plan to bring the Green Line to Medford and Somerville. Some of the team’s priorities, as indicated in its project update, include coordinating ongoing construction, meeting with abutters and important stakeholders such as the surrounding communities and Tufts, and creating a “strategic shutdown plan” for the commuter rail.

Major project contractors currently include Weston & Sampson Engineers, Inc., as the project lead, Arup, Inc. for cost estimates, and AECOM/HNTB for design.

The MBTA is also receiving professional help to hire a new project management team.

The “cheaper” $2.3 billion project plan is being supported in part by $152 million in federal highway funding that was reallocated by the Boston Regional MPO and money from Somerville and Cambridge. Both cities are currently developing Memorandums of Understanding with MassDOT and the Cambridge City Council has suggested pitching in $25 million.

The interim team is continuing to overhaul the original project plan, which threatened to balloon $1 billion over budget. The Federal Transit Administration official gave a favorable preliminary review of the scaled down Green Line extension in May. The FTA is conducting a more comprehensive review of the project’s costs, management, and design. Funding from the FTA is critical for the Green Line extension.