BOSTON — A $1 billion Green Line extension to Medford goes before the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) control board on Monday for final review before project design and construction begins.
Planned for completion in 2021, including seven new subway stations, the extension project will be designed and built by GLX Constructors, the state Department of Transportation (DOT) announced on Friday.
“With today’s price opening and the identification of the apparent successful Design-Build Proposer for the GLX, we are truly on our way to making the Green Line Extension a reality for the people of Cambridge, Somerville and Medford,” said MBTA General Manager Luis Ramirez in a DOT statement on Friday.
In the approximately two years since the Green Line Extension Project was indefinitely paused due to cost overruns, the MBTA redesigned and restructured the project plan.
In addition to track infrastructure and seven station stops, construction will include platform canopies, additional elevators at select stations, public art, additional community connection to the community path located on Chester Street in Somerville, extension of the community path between East Somerville and Lechmere Stations and an enhanced vehicle maintenance facility in Somerville.
In an effort to guard against similar cost overruns that challenged the GLX project in the past, the MBTA — according to the DOT statement — implemented measures to institute strict cost controls throughout the procurement. By implementing an Affordability Limit (the $1.3 billion maximum allowable price for a proposal) and incentives for the inclusion of additive scope options (while not exceeding the Affordability Limit), the MBTA was able to procure the maximum project benefits without jeopardizing the project’s budget.
“We could not have asked for a better outcome from today’s price opening,” said Green Line Extension Project Manager John Dalton said in the statement.
“The difficult decisions in 2015 and 2016 following the project’s shutdown in 2015 have paved the way for getting us to this point. All of the effort that has gotten us to this point is well worth it. We now look forward to working with the residents, businesses, community stakeholders, and the successful Design Build team to completing the project on time and on budget.”
GLX Constructors is comprised of the following firms: Fluor Enterprises, Inc., The Middlesex Corp., Herzog Contracting Corp., and Balfour Beatty Infrastructure, Inc.