Final part of $2.3B Green Line Extension opens in Boston area

Dive Brief:

The Boston area’s long-awaited $2.3 billion Green Line Extension transit project wrapped on Dec. 12 with the opening of the Medford Branch, according to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. The new 3.7-mile section is the second and final part of the overall 4.7-mile GLX project, which was decades in the making.
The Medford Branch adds five additional stations and connects Tufts University directly to downtown Boston. The ribbon was cut on the earlier portion of the GLX from Union Square to Somerville in March.
Both parts of the project were built by GLX Constructors, a joint venture composed of Fluor, The Middlesex Corp., Herzog, Balfour Beatty and STV. MBTA predicts that by 2030, about 45,000 riders will use the seven total new Green Line stations each day.

Dive Insight:

In addition to the new stations, the Medford Branch work entailed building a nearly 2-mile extension of a bike and pedestrian path, installing sound wall panels and improving the overhead wire system and the East Cambridge Viaduct, according to Balfour Beatty.

The project has a long history, going back to 1980 when research for the Green Line Extension began. A plan was announced in 1990, but was later scrapped due to budget overruns. The state began planning the extension again in 2007 and awarded a building contract to White-Kiewit-Skanska in 2013. However, the contractors were fired after the work went over budget, and the project was put on ice.

In 2016, the project was scaled back and rebid. GLX Constructors nabbed the design-build contract in 2017 and started construction in 2018. Work had to be put on hold yet again when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

Despite the many hiccups, the project is finally complete — and the region will be much more connected as a result.

“The Green Line Extension will have a transformational impact on the cities of Somerville, Medford and Cambridge by providing the region with access to important public transit, and we are pleased today to bring the Medford Branch into service after years of planning and coordination,” said Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker in the release. “This project is the product of the collaboration of federal, state, local and community partners and will bring economic growth and improve opportunities to education and jobs for many years to come.”

The opening of the full GLX means nearly 80% of the population of Somerville, Massachusetts, is now within walking distance to a station — formerly that percentage was less than 20%, according to MBTA. It will help reduce the number of vehicle miles traveled by nearly 26,000 miles each day.