Federal Transit Administration releases first $100 million toward total approved $1 billion for project. T issues “Notice to Proceed” to design-build firm.

The Federal Transit Administration today informed the MBTA Green Line Extension (GLX) Project Team that it has released the first $100 million installment of the total approved $1 billion in federal funding for the 4.7-mile light rail line from Cambridge to Medford, marking another milestone for the project. With federal funding in place, the MBTA issued the Notice to Proceed to GLX Design-Build team, GLX Constructors. After a sealed price opening last month, GLX Constructors won with its bid, a total of $1.08 billion.

“Thanks to the hard work of Secretary Pollack, her team, and the hugely successful collaborative work with Secretary Chao, our federal partners, and the cities of Cambridge, Somerville, and Medford, this important project is moving ahead,” said Governor Charlie Baker. “The Green Line Extension project will provide important public transit service that will have a transformational impact for this region of the Commonwealth to accommodate riders and spur economic growth.”

“Today’s news is the latest positive turn for an important project that was under construction in 2012 but which was buried by cost overruns two years ago,” said Transportation Secretary and CEO Stephanie Pollack. “The Baker-Polito Administration hit the pause button, addressed the cost overruns, led the effort to redesign the project to meet the affordability limit, worked with stakeholders, including officials with the Federal Transit Administration, and took other structural steps necessary to give the project new life. This has been a long haul but we are where we need to be with today’s news the Federal Transit Administration acknowledges that the MBTA has the institutional capacity to oversee, manage, and deliver both needed State of Good Repair investments and GLX.”

“I am very pleased to acknowledge the great efforts of GLX project director John Dalton and his team, who helped make this day a reality,” said MBTA Fiscal and Management Control Board Chairman Joseph Aiello. “Equally important to getting this project back on track has been the strong leadership and support from Governor Baker and Lt. Governor Polito. I’d also like to express my gratitude to municipal leaders and stakeholders for joining us as partners and advocates that enabled the achievement of this milestone.”

“We’re pleased to receive this good news as one more in a long list of milestones for this project,” said MBTA General Manager Luis Manuel Ramírez. “I want to thank the GLX team for their hard work on this project, community and stakeholder groups for their diligence and collaboration, and Governor Baker, Lieutenant Governor Polito, and Secretary Pollack for their leadership.”

“I am very pleased that the FTA has formally approved the Green Line Extension’s updated project financing plan, which gives the state access to the $1 billion in previously secured federal funds. With today’s announcement, the environmental, economic, and transit benefits of the GLX are much closer to being realized,” said U.S. Representative Michael Capuano.

“The importance of this news from the FTA cannot be overstated,” said Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone. “For everyone who has been fighting so hard over so many years to see the GLX become a reality, and for the region’s communities that stand to benefit both economically and environmentally from the project’s completion, today marks a key moment. After more than two years of uncertainty about the future of the project, today is the day that the Green Line Extension is officially restarted.”

“On behalf of the city of Cambridge, I am very pleased that this funding is being granted and that work on the Green Line Extension can now move forward,” said Cambridge Mayor E. Denise Simmons. “This investment in our mass transit system is going to pay tremendous dividends in the coming decades, helping to fuel economic growth in this area and to remove some of the traffic congestion that has long been a top concern for our residents. I am grateful to everyone who has worked so hard to help make this happen.”

“The work of the last two years culminates with the issuance of the Notice to Proceed to our selected design-build team,” said Program Manager John Dalton. “The project delivery team will now advance full steam ahead towards making the delivery of Green Line service to Cambridge, Medford, and Somerville a reality. Now the real work begins.”

Previous milestones for the GLX Project have included:

• the release of the draft Request for Proposal for the design-build project that included a base scope of work, Additive Options, and an Affordability Limit of $1.319 billion in March 2017;
• the release of the Final Request for Proposal for the Design-Build Project to three shortlisted design-build teams that included a base scope of work, Additive Options, and an Affordability Limit of $1.319 billion in May 2017;
• the receipt of Affordability Certifications from two of the three bidding design-build teams that their upcoming responses to the Final Request for Proposals (RFP) would include price proposals that meet or are below the established Affordability Limit of $1.319 billion in October 2017; and
• the design-build contract awarded to GLX Constructors in the amount of $1.08 billion, which is below the Affordability Limit, for their proposal that included a base scope of work and all Additive Options in November 2017. The Additive Options 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 enhanced Vehicle Maintenance Facility in Somerville.

Construction will begin in 2018 with service expected to begin in 2021.

Learn more about the Green Line Extension Project.

— MassDOT, Green Line Extension Project