MBTA Green Line Extension 50% Complete

Written by Marybeth Luczak, Executive Editor
GLX Project Manager John Dalton (left) recently showed Transportation Secretary and CEO Stephanie Pollack, and Gov. Charlie Baker construction progress of the $2.3 billion, 4.7-mile extension. It's on schedule to open in December 2021.

GLX Project Manager John Dalton (left) recently showed Transportation Secretary and CEO Stephanie Pollack, and Gov. Charlie Baker construction progress of the $2.3 billion, 4.7-mile extension. It's on schedule to open in December 2021.

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s (MBTA) $2.3 billion Green Line Extension (GLX) is now more than 50% complete and on track to open in December 2021.

Part of MBTA’s five-year, $8 billion Building a Better T capital investment plan, it will extend service about 4.7 miles north from a relocated Lechmere Station to Union Square in Somerville and College Avenue in Medford, and provide seven stations (including Lechmere; see map below). The service will allow a one-seat ride to downtown Boston, eliminating the need for bus and rail transfers at Lechmere Station and at Orange and Red Line stations. The project broke ground in 2018.

MBTA’s Green Line Extension will run 4.7 miles north from a relocated Lechmere Station to Union Square in Somerville and College Avenue in Medford, and provide seven stations (including Lechmere).

GLX Constructors—comprising Flour Enterprises, Middlesex Corp., Herzog Contracting Corp. and Balfour Beatty Infrastructure—is the contractor for design and construction.

So far, crews have installed nearly 77,000 square feet of retaining walls within the project corridor, 39,000 cubic yards of concrete, and caissons supporting the viaduct (viaduct steel installation is 95% complete). Two bridges, in Somerville and Medford, have been rebuilt and reopened. By launch, GLX crews will have installed 100,000 railroad ties, 21,000 linear feet (nearly 4 miles) of pilings, 22 million pounds of steel girders and 17 miles of track, and built a 2-mile multi-use community path.

In 2018, MBTA started taking delivery of 24 low-floor light rail vehicles from CAF USA Inc., under a $118 million contract, for use along the Green Line and to support the new service extension.

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, Lieutenant Gov. Karyn Polito, Massachusetts Transportation Secretary and CEO Stephanie Pollack, MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak, and others recently joined the project staff at Lechmere Station for a tour.

Poftak told the group: “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.”

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