Green Line Extension Completion Pushed Back Again
Photo by Alexander Svirsky, MassRoads.com
– Allison Goldsberry
After being pushed back one year from 2014 to 2015, the state is now saying the Green Line Extension to Medford and Somerville won’t be completed until between September 2018 and July 2020.
MassDOT and the MBTA announced the delay in the annual Status Report on the Green Line Extension and other Big Dig transit project commitments that must be filed with the state Department of Environmental Protection.
The report says that applying for federal funding has contributed to the delay in the project’s completion.
“The challenges related to the New Starts process – a complex, demanding, and time-consuming process – have added substantial time to the schedule for initiating design of the Green Line Extension project,” said the report.
In the report MassDOT and the MBTA say they “are not satisfied with the schedule…and are actively considering strategies that could mitigate schedule risks and improve upon the probable delivery dates for passenger service on the Green Line Extension.”
Some of the strategies to accelerate the project include a phasing in plan where some stations are open while others are under construction; awarding a design/build contract before all major property acquisitions are complete; and creating a GLX (Green Line Extension) steering group.
In addition, project officials will seek permission from the federal government to continue to move the project forward while still maintaining the potential to receive federal funding.
Legally, the project was supposed to be completed by December 31, 2014 to comply with clean air regulations. According to the report, project officials are going to look into ways to “provide interim emission reduction offset projects and measures for the period of the delay.”
The Green Line Extension is in the process of moving from the planning and environmental review phases to “design, engineering, and eventual construction,” according to the report. The project will extend the Green Line from a relocated Lechmere Station in East Cambridge to College Avenue in Medford, with a branch to Union Square in Somerville.