State officials recently joined the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) General Manager Steve Poftak and project staff to tour the ongoing work with the Green Line Extension (GLX) project.
In conjunction with the MBTA’s $8 billion Building a Better T program, GLX will extend the Green Line approximately 4.7 miles north along two branches from a relocated Lechmere Station to Union Square in Somerville and College Avenue in Medford.
To date, the project is over 50% complete and progressing as scheduled. When complete, GLX will provide service in areas that did not previously have access to reliable public transit, and will significantly reduce vehicle emissions on the road by supporting anticipated increased ridership.
“With construction of the Green Line Extension more than 50 percent complete, we’re well on our way to delivering new rail service to transit-dependent communities in Somerville, Medford, and Cambridge, and providing access to more economic, educational, and recreation opportunities,” Poftak said in a statement.
The total project cost is nearly $2.3 billion, which includes other project components such as real estate, professional services, contingency, and the procurement of 24 new trolleys to augment the existing Green Line fleet. Construction is staffed daily with approximately 650 management and field staff personnel with over 2.5 million design and construction job hours expended as of August 2020. Nearly 77,000 sq. ft. of retaining walls have been installed within the project corridor, 39,000 cubic yards of concrete have been installed, the installation of caissons supporting the viaduct is 100% complete, and the installation of viaduct steel is nearly complete at 95%. The complete reconstruction of two bridges at Broadway and Washington Streets has been finished with these bridges reopened.
When complete, GLX will have installed 100,000 railroad ties, 21,000 linear ft (nearly 4 miles) of pilings, 22 million lbs. of steel girders, 17 miles of permanent track, and 2 miles of multiuse community path.
---------
SOURCE: Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
