GOV. CHARLIE BAKER and current and future mayors of Somerville took a joy ride on part of the new Green Line extension on Thursday – a preview of the attractions to come as the $ 2.3 billion project draws to a close.
The Union Square branch of the Green Line extension is expected to open in March and the branch to Medford is expected to start in May. The two opening dates represent slight delays. But the big news is that the Green Line extension, originally priced at over $ 3 billion, is now set to exceed its budget by $ 2.3 billion with enough money to pay off Somerville and Cambridge. for the $ 75 million. they have invested in the project and still have money in reserve.
Baker would not speculate on how much money will be left, saying there is still a lot of electrical work to be done, but he said the credit goes to how the T handled oversight of the complicated project.
Instead of handing the responsibility over to a small team at T who also had other responsibilities to juggle, Baker said the decision was made to hire project manager John Dalton and a dedicated team of around 43 people who focused on extending the green line and nothing else.
âThis is what they worked on. That’s it, âsaid Baker, who said the same approach was used for the construction of a commuter train line from Boston to New Bedford and Fall River. Baker said the South Coast Rail project was also on schedule.
Somerville’s mayor-elect Katjana Ballantyne, who joined current mayor Joseph Curtatone at the press conference at the new Lechmere stop in Cambridge, also provided insight into what is likely to become a common refrain at the opening of the extension of the Green Line: long?
Ballantyne pulled out a copy of the Somerville Journal from 2005. On the front page was a photo of his 7-year-old daughter, who spoke out in favor of the project at a meeting attended by former mayor Michael Capuano and the former general of MBTA. Manager Dan Grabauskas.
Ballantyne said her daughter came to see her after speaking and asked her, âMom, when can I take the train? I said maybe when you are in senior year in high school.
Ballantyne added, “She’s 25 now.”
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