State Approves Scaled Back Green Line Extension Plan

– Allison Goldsberry

On Monday the MassDOT Board of Directors and the MBTA Fiscal & Management Control Board voted to move forward with a scaled back and less expensive Green Line extension project, according to The Boston Globe.

The project could still be in jeopardy if the state is unable to contain the budget. The “cheaper” Green Line extension plan is $2.3 billion and will be vetted by the Federal Transit Administration, which has also pitched in some money for the project.

The fate of the Green Line extension has been in question since the fiscal management board discovered in August that project costs could exceed more than $1 billion than expected.

Construction has already begun on the Green Line extension, which the federal government has pledged to commit nearly $1 billion toward. In Medford, the Harvard Street rail bridge has been renovated to accommodate Green Line tracks, and Tufts University and local philanthropist Bill Cummings have plans to create academic space at the College Avenue Green Line Station. It’s unclear if that station will move forward as proposed given the cost over-run concerns.

State Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack told The Globe that additional construction would be delayed by at least eighteen months.

Two Green Line stations are planned for Medford, one at College Avenue and one in Ball Square on the Medford/Somerville line. A third stop at Route 16 has always been contingent on the receipt of federal funds and a phased approach to the project; it’s unclear if the Green Line will end there given the project’s financial struggles.