Green Line Extension - $1 billion over projections; cancellation on the table

[keithn.livejournal.com]

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/08/24/mbta-green-line-extension-cost-billion-more-than-projected/dU65AoqBXDs4T33K97AMXN/story.html

The long-awaited Green Line extension into Somerville and Medford could cost as much as $1 billion more than the T’s initial budget estimates, raising doubt about whether the project will be completed.

I don't even have words for this.

Comments

[keithn.livejournal.com]

This throws an interesting wrench in the Ward 6 alderman election. Now the topic of the election gets to shift back to the GLX, something we all thought was a done deal that we could move on from.

Maybe we'll want the lawyer guy.

[ron_newman]

Does it, though? None of the extension is really in Ward 6 (though Ball Square station is right beyond the ward boundary), and the city doesn't decide whether and how the extension is built.

[keithn.livejournal.com]

I think the Ball Square station is extremely important to the residents of much of Ward 6. As you said, it's right on the ward boundary, and as far as I know there isn't a moat and wall separating the powder house square neighborhood from the station. For a couple of years now, property values have been increasing and property taxes have been increasing for residents in the area simply due to the promise of the extension, and the property tax increases extend even into my neighborhood which is about a 15 minute walk from any GLX stop and only ~7 minutes from the Porter Square red line station.

Even though our officials don't run the MBTA, the city wields an enormous amount of political influence over the GLX. The GLX almost entirely to our city's benefit. Don't forget that the GLX project was only resumed after a lawsuit from our city, and don't forget that the $1 billion in funds promised by the federal government was won by Michael Capuano, the former mayor of Somerville. If the GLX project is cancelled or mothballed, I would expect an aggressive legal and political battle by our city officials.

I know you live way over on Day or Orchard street where GLX will probably have little impact on your life, but I think any serious consideration of cancelling or mothballing GLX is going to be the top issue in Somerville as a whole by a LOT. It's tough to say how serious the talk is at this point, but I think the city needs to show what a fight the MBTA/state will have on its hands before it starts to take the idea more seriously.

[ron_newman]

I agree with that, but it would surprise me to see any difference at all between the four candidates on this particular subject.

[keithn.livejournal.com]

I'd like to give them a chance to speak for themselves. You really don't know until someone asks, and there isn't much of a filter to prevent out of whack candidates from running. For instance - If any of them believe that the GLX is a bad thing because it "prices people out of their neighborhoods" I would be glad to know that to have one less candidate to consider when voting.

I am also seeing statements now from Capuano and Bill Straus suggesting that the GLX might stop at Gilman Square. This is something that the city could potentially support, but it would be bad news for wards 5 and 6, so you really want a strong advocate for ward 6 holding that seat.