Anybody go tonight (Mon) to Tufts' update on its TOD building atop College Ave GLX?
didn't go but GLX just posted these images on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10153128260101681.1073741853.53151441680&type=3
Anybody go tonight (Mon) to Tufts' update on its TOD building atop College Ave GLX?
Did we get the specific "What Happened" report on the 30th? There's been a lot of control board type news, but did we get the "real" report that was promised for "before Thanksgiving"/Nov 30th?November 30: what happened
December 9: what will happen
Did we get the specific "What Happened" report on the 30th? There's been a lot of control board type news, but did we get the "real" report that was promised for "before Thanksgiving"/Nov 30th?
Joseph Aiello, the fiscal board chairman: "We did not invest in T staff. We did not have adequate T staff."
BRG consultant: More MBTA staff should have been involved. "Nobody is going to be concerned about owner's project any more than the owner."
MBTA didn't do best practices with CM/GC. Should have had only a few phases of project in negotiation, but MBTA made 7 phases.
Yet another consultant says that some suggestions that could have cut down on costs were rejected, but doesn't go into specifics.
Yeager says there wasn't enough training on the procurement process for the construction manager and the MBTA.
Yaeger, other consultant, says current procurement process is reasonable in other contexts, but not best for Green Line extension.
Looking at the faces of all on the MassDOT board and people have some veerrry bleak looks right now.
Basically, Rodgers is saying the MBTA was using a new, untested method of procurement for one of its most important/biggest projects
Rodgers: “You have a very complex project … and it’s schedule driven, and you’re trying a new method as a pilot project.”
Consultant Terence Rodgers now talks problems with procurement process. Wrote a bit about some of its issues in Sept https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2...e-extension/2GIx45SiQdXotzJZJtmB5N/story.html …
Lang points out that there were 3 contractors creating budgets for same project, and they weren't communicating with each other.
Control board member Brian Lang is using a tone that I would describe as my "Am I in crazy town?" tone.
Terry Yeager is the consultant from Berkeley Research Group that's speaking, by the way. Will use his name from now on.
Consultant says $2.5 billion to $3 billion is "relatively safe" range for this budget.
Wow. "I'm not convinced that a reliable budget has been produced today," consultant says.
Another Berkeley Research Group consultant says MBTA could have had a "reliable budget" as far back as 2012, but they didn't
Original project budget in 2010: About $1 billion.
Consultant says that MBTA had concerns about cost as far back as end of 2014, when they were awarding more contracts.
Consultant says they need to look into the schedule because it shouldn't be the driving force.
Consultant: The project was "excessively schedule driven," did not have a reliable budget, and didn't use procurement process well.
Consultant who looked into problems of Green Line extension: There is no silver bullet. LOTS of problems.
The MBTA had about four full-time positions to oversee all the contractors for this massive project, according to MassDOT.
Well. Individual Green Line contracts were not approved by board, just then-general manager Beverly Scott.
Nicole Dungca @ndungca 1m1 minute ago
Consultant says that MBTA had concerns about cost as far back as end of 2014, when they were awarding more contracts.
Nicole Dungca @ndungca 47s47 seconds ago
Original project budget in 2010: About $1 billion.
I think everyone (including Baker himself and most of the legislature) expects a long/loud discussion of how to manage costs better--and then serious looks at T reform before any new taxes.Who knows...maybe they will implement a VMT tax that will pay for all of our infrastructure problems.
I think everyone (including Baker himself and most of the legislature) expects a long/loud discussion of how to manage costs better before any new taxes. The number of "car voters" probably roughly tracks car usage for commutes, or about 80% of voters. We have a progressive majority in favor of having a large, accessible, moderate-fare, transit system, and willing to force more efficient/greener grid and autos, but Beacon Hills Democrats will tell you that SOV users wouldn't stand for a VMT-first approach to "solving" the T's problems.
Something is still very wrong about how we build rail (in the USA; in MA) if the "real" number is 2.5b to 3b to add a 3rd & 4th track to a 4-track ROW that the MBTA already owned.
The cost of recent surface light rail lines has ranged from a low of $43 million per mile in Norfolk, VA to a high of $204 million per mile for the new Milwaukie line in Portland. Los Angeles's Crenshaw Line , which includes short subway sections, clocks in at $165 million per mile. In Toronto, the Eglinton LRT line, which consists of almost a 50/50 split between surface and subway operation, is estimated to cost C$403 million per mile, which as of May 2012 was about equal to US$400 million per mile. In contrast, the Canada Line in Vancouver, which is about 70% underground with most of the rest being elevated, only cost C$177 million per mile - a low amount attributed to its cut-and-cover construction and very short station platforms (at 50m they can only accommodate two car train sets).
Keep in mind that they got out of building nearly every single legally-mandated Big Dig mitigation project. Arborway restoration. Red-Blue.
I think they have to or they lose all of the federal money they have been awarded for the project so far. But I do not know for sure that is the case.