Green Line Extension to Medford & Union Sq

Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

MedfordGreenLine.org has a summary of the most recent status report:
Among the updates since the last report, issued in September, are:

• A slight delay in the anticipated application date for federal funding, due to postponement of a risk assessment workshop from November to January
• Extension of the Phase I construction schedule by 6 months to add 200 feet of retaining and noise wall work
• An estimated Phase 2/2A early construction start date of August 2014
• The property acquisition/relocation process for the maintenance and storage facility is delayed and behind schedule
• A second value engineering workshop resulted in an estimated $15.8 million in cost savings
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MedfordGreenLine's post w/ details at:
http://www.medfordgreenline.org/?p=570

Source Document
http://www.ctps.org/Drupal/data/calendar/pdfs/2013/MPO_1219_SIP.pdf
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

6 months extension for just 200ft of work? Sounds like a lot more is wrong than just some new noise barriers
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

Welcome to anything done by the gov't. It's no wonder private/public jobs such as yawkey way get done faster and more efficiently. If there wasn't so much beauracracy in MA dev would move so much faster and we'd have a lot more investment
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

Yawkey? You mean the station that was supposed to be completed in the spring of 2012, and still isn't finished? That has had continuous schedule slip, even in the final months of work? That has had no public information website, no explanation for delays, no accountability? That has had both its primary access points closed off at times with no notice and no alternate routing posted, making getting to the station a difficult task sometimes involving walking through active construction sites?

Yes good, let's have more of those.
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

While fair discussion and rebuttal on Yawkee. I think the big question remains is why does it take 6 months for 200ft of work? Does anyone have an answer to that? Did anyone even asked?
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

ant8904 said:
While fair discussion and rebuttal on Yawkee. I think the big question remains is why does it take 6 months for 200ft of work? Does anyone have an answer to that? Did anyone even asked?
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Ant -- I saw 4 guys dig a small hole for the T -- I was waiting off-rush for a Green Line at Lechmere and there was a area just off the platform that was all barricaded

1 gentleman seemed to be the foreman -- he did nothing except nurse a cup of Joe
2 gentlemen took turns swinging a railway pickaxe
1 gentleman occasionally was called upon to remove some material from the hole and pile it up

I was so intrigued that I skipped the first E that came and watched the process

All I can say is that -- the hole should have taken one man about 10 minutes
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

whighlander said:
Ant -- I saw 4 guys dig a small hole for the T -- I was waiting off-rush for a Green Line at Lechmere and there was a area just off the platform that was all barricaded

1 gentleman seemed to be the foreman -- he did nothing except nurse a cup of Joe
2 gentlemen took turns swinging a railway pickaxe
1 gentleman occasionally was called upon to remove some material from the hole and pile it up

I was so intrigued that I skipped the first E that came and watched the process

All I can say is that -- the hole should have taken one man about 10 minutes
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Dont forget the army of lawyers and engineers who planned and approved of said hole.
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

I once watched six guys work on a water pipe in front of my building. One used a tool, the rest sat in the bed of the truck talking.


Must have been for safety though *eyeroll*
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

cbrett said:
Dont forget the army of lawyers and engineers who planned and approved of said hole.
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And let us not forget the diligent police persons on paid details deftly managing the traffic into and out of the hole -- they always seem either to be peering into the hole or sitting in the cruiser have a conference call with a cup of joe from DD
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

Slightly better discussion... but doesn't quite answer. Let me rephrase this... Anyone have a F-Line/Winstonoboogie style explanation of adding 6 months to the schedule for 200 ft? Yes, corruption explains a lot, but breaking down the corruption and/or technical aspect would be nice. I mean is the Medford group really just going to publish that without questioning?
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

ant8904 said:
Slightly better discussion... but doesn't quite answer. Let me rephrase this... Anyone have a F-Line/Winstonoboogie style explanation of adding 6 months to the schedule for 200 ft? Yes, corruption explains a lot, but breaking down the corruption and/or technical aspect would be nice. I mean is the Medford group really just going to publish that without questioning?
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It is a change order, adding work to an existing contract that was not originally in the contract. If the Mass DOT/MBTA Board must approve the change order, waiting for Board approval and finalizing the changes to the contract itself probably accounts for a portion of the 6-8 months additional time to completion.

Maybe I missed it, but I'm surprised that no one commented about this other non-GLX item in the summary report:

"On October 8, 2013, the Department of Environmental Protection approved a request made by MassDOT in July of 2011 to revise 310 CMR 7.36 to remove the requirement for MassDOT to complete the design of the Red Line/Blue Line Connector. This revision to the State Implementation Plan, the text of which is available on the MassDOT website at: http://www.massdot.state.ma.us/Portals/17/docs/sip/October13UpdatedSIPReg.pdf, must now also be approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The timing of that final approval is currently unknown"
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

It could also be a lead time issue. I'm not sure what the extra 200' of work entails, but depending on what kind of materials/equipment procurement needs to happen, lead times can easily push things out. Again, I have no idea what actually needs to be bought, just venturing a guess.
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

Also, who knows what is buried where that 200' is going? Plenty of buried utilities, sewer lines, drainage, etc. As most of us know, the accuracy of infrastructure maps in dense communities is lacking. Also, they may need to negotiate with property owners. It may not take the whole six months, but they should expect that it will.
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

Semass said:
Also, who knows what is buried where that 200' is going? Plenty of buried utilities, sewer lines, drainage, etc. As most of us know, the accuracy of infrastructure maps in dense communities is lacking. Also, they may need to negotiate with property owners. It may not take the whole six months, but they should expect that it will.
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Took 7 years to replace the Winter St. Bridge over Rt-128 in Waltham -- $23M project

Very nice now with pseudo-gas-light-period street lamps and all -- BUT -- 7 years?

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Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

Cancel all the meetings, fire all the consultants, stop the endless studies and just build the fucking thing.
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

gooseberry said:
Cancel all the meetings, fire all the consultants, stop the endless studies and just build the fucking thing.
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Is it wrong that I feel the exact same way? I'm all for community input, but where does it stop? How much time and money will be lost because of having to move the maintainence yard due to neighborhood pressure?

Time is money and who knows how transit-friendly the next governor is going to be? The clock is ticking to get this thing going.
 
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Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

shouldn't a retaining wall just have been part of the regular meetings?
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

These meetings are mostly for direct abutters of the project, who need to know details about where the walls will be built and what temporary or permanent easements the T will need on their properties.
 
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