Officials marked the halfway milestone in the long-awaited $2.3 billion Green Line Extension project on Thursday, vowing to have trains up and running by the end of 2021.
The GLX project “will have a major impact on the region by improving access to virtually everything,” Baker said after a tour of a construction site in Cambridge.
The project includes a new Lechmere Station and lays 4.5 miles of new track north of the Charles River that will bring service to Union Square in Somerville and College Ave. near Tufts in Medford.
Baker took a moment to reflect on the “tortured” history of the project he said was talked about for nearly three decades before finally getting a false start several years ago. An early effort to get the project off the ground failed in 2015 after the project was found to be nearly $1 billion over budget.
The state went back to the drawing board, eliminating two stations and replacing exorbitant indoor stations with cheaper outdoor platforms. The long-awaited Green Line extension will finally open at the end of next year, Baker said.
“Everybody in the media — make sure to put in your stories that this project is due to be done by the end of next year so I can put it on the wall behind me and remind everybody it will be done at the end of next year,” Baker quipped.
Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack said the project brings the T closer to “the world-class transit system that Greater Boston wants and needs.”
But as the T moves forward with capital improvements, budget watchdogs have sounded the alarm over the T’s unraveling finances amid rising costs and declining revenues in the coronavirus era. MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak said the agency is now spending $1 million per week on sanitizing stations, buses and trains and on personal protective equipment for employees.
The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation has estimated the system will see a $308 million deficit.
Poftak says the MBTA is looking at in-house savings possibilities, but didn’t take fare hikes off the table when asked on Thursday.
Pivoting to an update on the state’s coronavirus response, Gov. Charlie Baker said the state reached another milestone Wednesday when it logged more than 4 million molecular tests. The state is one of the top testers in the nation, the Republican governor said.
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BOSTON MA. - OCTOBER 1: Charles Murphy, with his MBTA map bandana, listens to Gov Charlie Baker as he speaks to the media on the Coronavirus and the Green Line Extension Project at what will be the future Lechmere T stop on October 1, 2020 in Boston, MA. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
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BOSTON MA. - OCTOBER 1: Workers on the Green Line Extension Project at what will be the future Lechmere T stop on October 1, 2020 in Boston, MA. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
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BOSTON MA. - OCTOBER 1: Workers on the Green Line Extension Project at what will be the future Lechmere T stop on October 1, 2020 in Boston, MA. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
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BOSTON MA. - OCTOBER 1: MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak speaks as Gov Charlie Baker speaks to the media on the Coronavirus and the Green Line Extension Project at what will be the future Lechmere T stop on October 1, 2020 in Boston, MA. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
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BOSTON MA. - OCTOBER 1: Gov Charlie Baker speaks to the media on the Coronavirus and the Green Line Extension Project at what will be the future Lechmere T stop on October 1, 2020 in Boston, MA. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
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BOSTON MA. - OCTOBER 1: MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak speaks as Gov Charlie Baker speaks to the media on the Coronavirus and the Green Line Extension Project at what will be the future Lechmere T stop on October 1, 2020 in Boston, MA. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
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BOSTON MA. - OCTOBER 1: GLX Project Manager John Dalton, Governor Charlie Baker, Transportation Secretary and CEO Stephanie Pollack, Lt. Governor Karyn Polito, MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak and others tour GLX construction takes a tour of the Green Line Extension Project at what will be the future Lechmere T stop on October 1, 2020 in Boston, MA. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
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BOSTON MA. - OCTOBER 1: Transportation Secretary and CEO Stephanie Pollack speaks as Gov Charlie Baker speaks to the media on the Coronavirus and the Green Line Extension Project at what will be the future Lechmere T stop on October 1, 2020 in Boston, MA. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
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BOSTON MA. - OCTOBER 1: Gov Charlie Baker speaks to the media on the Coronavirus and the Green Line Extension Project at what will be the future Lechmere T stop on October 1, 2020 in Boston, MA. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
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BOSTON MA. - OCTOBER 1: Gov Charlie Baker speaks to the media on the Coronavirus and the Green Line Extension Project at what will be the future Lechmere T stop on October 1, 2020 in Boston, MA. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
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BOSTON MA. - OCTOBER 1: Workers on the Green Line Extension Project at what will be the future Lechmere T stop on October 1, 2020 in Boston, MA. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
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BOSTON MA. - OCTOBER 1: GLX Project Manager John Dalton, Governor Charlie Baker tour the Green Line Extension Project at what will be the future Lechmere T stop on October 1, 2020 in Boston, MA. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
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BOSTON MA. - OCTOBER 1: the Green Line Extension Project at what will be the future Lechmere T stop on October 1, 2020 in Boston, MA. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
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BOSTON MA. - OCTOBER 1: Gov Charlie Baker checks out the future route of the project prior to speaking to the media on the Coronavirus and the Green Line Extension Project at what will be the future Lechmere T stop on October 1, 2020 in Boston, MA. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
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BOSTON MA. - OCTOBER 1: Gov Charlie Baker speaks to the media on the Coronavirus and the Green Line Extension Project at what will be the future Lechmere T stop on October 1, 2020 in Boston, MA. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
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BOSTON MA. - OCTOBER 1: the Green Line Extension Project at what will be the future Lechmere T stop on October 1, 2020 in Boston, MA. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
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BOSTON MA. - OCTOBER 1: GLX Project Manager John Dalton, Governor Charlie Baker, Transportation Secretary and CEO Stephanie Pollack, Lt. Governor Karyn Polito, MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak and others tour GLX construction takes a tour of the Green Line Extension Project at what will be the future Lechmere T stop on October 1, 2020 in Boston, MA. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
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BOSTON MA. - OCTOBER 1: GLX Project Manager John Dalton, Governor Charlie Baker, Transportation Secretary and CEO Stephanie Pollack, takes a tour of the Green Line Extension Project at what will be the future Lechmere T stop on October 1, 2020 in Boston, MA. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
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BOSTON MA. - OCTOBER 1: GLX Project Manager John Dalton, Governor Charlie Baker, Transportation Secretary and CEO Stephanie Pollack, Lt. Governor Karyn Polito, MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak and others tour GLX construction takes a tour of the Green Line Extension Project at what will be the future Lechmere T stop on October 1, 2020 in Boston, MA. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2SeTOpx
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