Green Line Extension to Medford & Union Sq

Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

MBTA Green Line Extension
Sponsored by the Construction Group
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Revere Hotel / Boston Common, 200 Stuart Street, Boston, MA
5:30 PM Social/Registration; 6:30 PM Lunch; 7:30 PM Presentation

$70 Members, $80 Non-Members, $60 Public Sector Members, $70 Public Sector Non-Members, $50 Student Members and Senior Members (65+)

Mary Ainsley, GLX Senior Director of Design and Construction, MBTA, Michael J. McBride, PE, Sr. VP PM/CM GLX Program Manager, HDR/Gilbane Team

This presentation will examine the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA)

proposal to extend the MBTA Green Line from a relocated Lechmere Station in East Cambridge to Union Square in Somerville and College Avenue in

Medford. While proposals to extend public transit service north from Lechmere date back many decades, the current phase of planning began in 2005

with the completion of MBTA's Beyond Lechmere Northwest Corridor Study Major Investment Study/Alternatives Analysis. Planning has been underway

since.

For more details or to register online, visit http://bit.ly/BSCESConstGrp03-27-13.



It's not free, but there might be some interesting tidbits there.
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

Is this how they're funding the GLX now?
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

When does new lechmere start? That's when I'll be excited.
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

Arborway said:
Misleading headline. They're doing prep work. Track laying is much further in the future. Years in the future.
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They may have to 'lane shift' the Fitchburg Line as part of the bridge work. But that's no different than the Orange + Haverhill temp shift around the Assembly Sq. construction. Some headline writer probably misread a report.
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

F-Line to Dudley said:
They may have to 'lane shift' the Fitchburg Line as part of the bridge work. But that's no different than the Orange + Haverhill temp shift around the Assembly Sq. construction. Some headline writer probably misread a report.
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The Haverhill hasn't been shifted at all, only the Orange Line.
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/medford/2013/04/mbta_legislative_transit_plan.html

MBTA: Legislative transit plan would cost $500 million in Green Line project funding

The MBTA anticipates it would lose out on more than a half billion dollars in federal grant funding for the Green Line Extension under a transportation funding proposal unveiled by the legislative leaders Tuesday, according to an MBTA spokesman.

"The proposal released yesterday does not appear to provide funding for the MBTA's 'state of good repair,' work, meaning the Federal Transit Administration is not likely to fund any portion of the cost of the $1.3 billion project," MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo said in an email. "Because the Commonwealth is legally obligated to extend the Green Line, $1.3 billion in state funding will be necessary to move the project forward."

The state is in the process of seeking $557 million in funding for the Green Line project through New Starts, a grant program run by the Federal Transit Administration. As part of its review of applicants, the FTA considers funding commitments for the proposed project, and takes into account proposed legislation and state budgets.

While the MBTA is confident the legislature's transit proposal would jeopardize grant funding, State Senator Patricia Jehlen, D-Somerville, said it was too early to know for certain.

"I don't think there's been time to process it," she said. "It's something I'm concerned about, but I can't say with certainty whether we are putting federal money at risk."

Under a legal settlement with the Conservation Law Foundation related to mitigation from the Big Dig, the state is required to extend the green line from its current northern terminal station at Lechmere in Cambridge through Somerville to College Avenue in Medford, creating a total of seven new stops.

Losing out on federal funding wouldn't jeopardize the project as a whole, but it could mean the state would likely have to pick up the entire cost, Jehlen said.

"It could really put an enormous burden on the rest of the state," she said. "That's another 600 million the state would have to pick up and shove everything else to the bottom of the heap."

It would also make a proposed second leg of the extension -- to Route 16 in Medford -- unlikely, she said.

The transit proposal presented Tuesday by House Speaker Robert Deleo and Senate President Therese Murray has been proposed as a scaled back alternative to Gov. Deval Patrick's plan, outlined in January.

The Green Line Extension project broke ground late last year. It is expected to be completed by 2020.

Meanwhile, State House News Service reported that Patrick administration officials were warning that the plan proposed by legislative leaders would eventually force “steep” fare and toll hikes as well as force the state to pick up a larger share of the Green Line project.

Transportation Secretary Richard Davey, in a memo obtained by the News Service, warned the plan could lead to shuttered Registry of Motor Vehicles branches, MBTA fare and toll increases, and represents “another short-term band-aid” for transportation.

In the memo from Davey to Patrick on Wednesday, Davey warned the public could feel the effects if an “insufficient” revenue plan passes.

“If sufficient revenues to address this gap are not advanced, we must consider options that include weight restrictions on bridges, cessation of projects and the closure of registry branches or other services to create sufficient funding for capital investment,” Davey wrote, according to the memo obtained by the News Service, going on to say the plan reflects “an alarming lack of support for fixing our roads, bridges and trains.”
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

Call it a Commuter Rail extension, and the money will appear.
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

I must be missing something because the article didn't make clear to me the specific why(s) of federal funding being jeopardized. Insufficient matching funds?
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

Coyote137 said:
I must be missing something because the article didn't make clear to me the specific why(s) of federal funding being jeopardized. Insufficient matching funds?
Click to expand...
In a nutshell, the Feds want two things before they'll subsidize/encourage system expansions:
1) The project itself has to be a good value...promising a high ratio of new riders per capital dollar spent
2) You have to prove that you have the resources to operate and maintain the system you have (they don't want you letting your shiny new stuff or your probably-also-fed-paid old stuff fall apart).

The GLX can be shown to meet #1 (being a good project in itself and a worthy inclusion in a list of federally-supported projects) and so Federal Support is tantalizingly close...but will remain out of reach slo long as concern #2 lingers--that without greater and more-reliable funding the MBTA won't have the resources to maintain its current system (and even less so if it has a bigger system)
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

It's absurd that this now approaching $1.3billion now. Wasn't it just $1.1billion a couple months ago? And there was a long silent period before that where it was maybe $750million.
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

Whatever happened to the transportation bill. At last check, the House passed a $500 million package, and the governor/Senate were working on an $800 million package. The story seemed to drop off the radar completely following the marathon.
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

jdrinboston said:
Whatever happened to the transportation bill. At last check, the House passed a $500 million package, and the governor/Senate were working on an $800 million package. The story seemed to drop off the radar completely following the marathon.
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Because the Marathon bombings effectively derailed further action.

Patrick's been working over Legislative rank-and-file to win over some individual votes and strategize with the leaners. The watered-down bill was a DeLeo/Murray hatchet job. Those two are risk-averse creatures of habit...do whatever the hell they want in a vacuum when the membership are sheep, but do their jobs and negotiate when they've actually got a divided caucus to unite. So there's a lot of buttering-up to do with individual reps before the Administration unleashes Transportation Bill, Take II that the chamber leaders actually have motivation to listen to.


It's depressing how little has changed with the Legislature since the Bulger or Finneran dictatorships, but whatever...at least Patrick seems to be putting real elbow grease this time into working the levers.
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

GLX project team meet-and-greet was yesterday evening. I couldn't make it but Friends of the Community Path said no news was made. In the meantime, more meetings (more!) scheduled for updates on station design. I believe this is the first time I've seen them breaking down the meetings to focus on just one or two stations. Nice, I suppose, if you only care about your local station, but odd for the majority of those affected by the project who will be within walking distance of multiple stops.
http://www.greenlineextension.org/documents/PubMtgs/Phase1/meetingSchedule0613.pdf
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

BostonUrbEx said:
It's absurd that this now approaching $1.3billion now. Wasn't it just $1.1billion a couple months ago? And there was a long silent period before that where it was maybe $750million.
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Gotta hire more consultants and have them study everything again. Then we can greenlight the proposal and have them study everything once more. Then we can begin initial design which will require another study phase. Followed by a pause, then more studies.
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

F-Line to Dudley said:
It's depressing how little has changed with the Legislature since the Bulger or Finneran dictatorships, but whatever...at least Patrick seems to be putting real elbow grease this time into working the levers.
Click to expand...

To raise taxes even higher... wonderful.
 
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