A contractor selected after years of delays
A December 2017 article reported that the MBTA selected GLX Constructors to design and build the long-planned Green Line Extension. The account described an approximately 4.7-mile extension from Lechmere toward Medford, with a branch to Union Square in Somerville.
It characterized the construction bid as about $1 billion within a $1.3 billion contract cap. Another passage described the bid as $200 million below the cap, which is not the same rounded calculation. The article does not establish a more precise contract amount.
Funding and the revised scope
The account described a $2.3 billion overall budget, including $1 billion in federal support and $1.3 billion from state and local sources. It recalled a $3 billion estimate in 2015, cuts to keep the project viable and a revised plan submitted to the Federal Transit Administration in May 2016.
The reported contract restored some previously removed features, including canopies, public art and a roughly 7,000-foot pedestrian and bicycle community path. A Somerville vehicle-maintenance facility, elevators and fare gates were also discussed, though the article did not say every station would have each feature.
Routes, stations and future extensions
The two planned branches followed the Fitchburg corridor toward Union Square and the Lowell corridor toward Medford. Named stations in the account included Union Square, Gilman Square, Magoun Square, Ball Square and Tufts University, together with relocation of Lechmere. Its station list should not be expanded with an invented missing name.
The article anticipated openings in 2021 and approximately 50,000 daily trips. A further extension to Route 16 was described as a separate, unfunded possibility; a budget cushion was not an approved funding commitment for that additional project.
Development described along the corridor
The report cited the Metropolitan Area Planning Council’s projections of approximately 5,500 new residences and six million square feet of commercial space. It also cited CommonWealth Magazine in discussing an estimated 14,365 permanent jobs. These were forecasts, not documented later outcomes.
Examples included Windsor at Maxwell’s Green, described as a $52 million, 184-apartment development opened in 2012 near the anticipated Magoun Square stop; a Union Square program of approximately 2.3 million square feet and nearly 1,000 homes; and Bow Market’s planned small-business storefronts.
The Powder House redevelopment was described as including 48 apartments, roughly 11,300 square feet of commercial space and more than 69,000 square feet of open space. The Sphere was identified as a 42-unit apartment development near Ball Square. These historical examples do not establish current rents, uses or availability.
Expectations, not returns
The article described strong interest in parcels near future stations and cited projections of property-value increases. Neither a planned station nor an attributed growth forecast guarantees an owner’s return. This account records the cautiously optimistic 2017 outlook, not present transit operations or zoning rights.
Historical account attributed to the original Boston City Properties article. Underlying records and later outcomes have not been freshly verified.