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Green Line Extension back on track, at least for now

State transportation planners working on the long delayed plans to extend the Green Line past Lechmere will recommend next week that the MBTA hire a consortium of companies to do the work, at a potential cost of no more than $1.1 billion - on top of what the state's already spent on the work.

Green Line Extension planners opened bids today and agreed to recommend the hiring of Fluor Enterprises, Inc., The Middlesex Corp., Herzog Contracting Corp., and Balfour Beatty Infrastructure, Inc. The companies, bidding together as GLX Constructors, submitted a bid of $954.6 million. Planners then added money for contingencies, to bring the expected cost to $1.08 billion.

The board that now runs the T meets Monday to consider the proposal.

The companies said their bid includes several components the state had said it could do without to just get the trains running already, including construction of canopies at platforms, a number of elevators, extension of a community path between East Somerville and Lechmere stations, public art and an "enhanced" trolley maintenance facility in Somerville.

In addition to money from the state - which has pledged to buy a new fleet of trolleys for the extension separate from construction of the line - the federal government has committed $1 billion towards the work.

Green Line Extension project updates.

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Comments

You know you have low expectations based on the long history of failure with this project and public transit in this country in general when you get excited about canopies covering people so they don't get soaked by rain and snow while waiting for a train. But here we are and I'm excited they say they are bringing canopies back.

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The bike path made it back into the plans, so that's something to feel good about.

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providing a transit service is being paid for with transit funds. Forgive me if I'm not exactly jumping up and down with joy over this.

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It fits within the overall scope of alternative (non-automotive) transportation which is what the funds are for. That's why it matters and is good that it is added now.

If it makes you feel any better they added some (not enough) mass transit provisions to the Big Dig.

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Especially transit stations without parking. Stand in Davis Square some time and watch how many people walk to and from the station on the paths that go east towards Lowell Street and west towards North Cambridge. There are far more pedestrians than there are cyclists, which is why we prefer to call it the Community Path instead of the bike path.

You'll see lots of folks walking up and down the Minuteman also, between Alewife station and East Arlington.

The same is likely true all up and down the Southwest Corridor on the Orange Line, but I don't live in that area so I'm less familiar with it.

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First move when trying to dupe the public: don't use a super fakey name

Green Line Extension Constructors. Really?

Better names: Big Dig 2.0 LLP. Stephanie Pollack's Pet Project ver. 7.2, Totally Not BS Project LLC, Pollack-Threatened-Me Enterprises LLP.

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First shady Ramirez, now shady Fluor. I know everyone in Boston is programmed from birth to hate everyone in NYC, but nobody in Beantown has been to the WTC? Fluor was booted from the Port Authority.

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Adam, you're missing a "Read more" link, FYI.

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Looking at the time difference between the big dig and this giant new allston project, looks like the public taste for projects is about a decade

so PLEASE JUST FINISH THE GLX so we can get onto other train related projects already, in 10 years.

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Did anyone else read that as '"enchanted" trolley maintenance facility in Somerville'?

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So they're so desperate to get this thing done, putting a roof on it is now optional.

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