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The Somerville Board of Aldermen declares its clear objection against delaying the Green Line Extension beyond 2014. View the resolution (PDF)

Please help get the Green Line back on track toward timely completion!
This post contains important information on the most impactful things you can do to fight back against the proposed Green Line delay. We have been successful in turning things around in the past and with your help we will be successful again.
Part 1. Key information on current status DELAYS and what you can do about them.
Part 2. Where to send written comments. Dates and times of important meetings.
Part 3. Speaking points for your written comments or for speaking at meetings

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To justify its proposed delay, MassDOT has now shared detailed information on what needs to happen between now and the opening of the Green Line extension. There are three documents: Explanatory memo Shorter "critical path" schedule Detailed schedule

Somerville News: "Green Line: What's next?" "After years of tireless community advocacy, resulting only in more broken promises, it's clear that this will not be resolved without a united approach. More than negotiations and discussions by political and local leaders, we need the continued efforts of the entire Somerville community: we need you to make your voices heard."

Boston Globe: "Somerville blasts Green Line delay" The Board of Aldermen passed a resolution last night calling for top state transportation officials to appear before it to answer for the recent delay of the Green Line extension project and urged the city's mayor to explore renewing legal action against the Commonwealth. Somerville Patch: "Somerville Aldermen Irate over Green Line Delays" "They…

At the Green Line Design Working Group meeting on Wednesday, project managers outlined the updated Green Line timeline: First, the project must get a certificate of no impact as part of the environmental assessment process (probably end of year). Then, it will take 24 months to relocate businesses affected by land takings. After that, it will take 55 months (4 years…

Somerville Journal op ed: "Guest commentary: Sue the state for Green Line Extension delay"

"Somerville to press state on Green Line delay" "Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone has been meeting with the Conservation Law Foundation to explore legal options against the state regarding the delay of the Green Line extension, city spokeswoman Jaclyn Rossetti confirmed."

In an email to “Green Line Extension Friends,” MassDOT, clearly on the defensive as the public outcry continues, answers some common questions and tries to rationalize the delay. Here are a few highlights:

• “MassDOT and the MBTA are in no way choosing to delay the Green Line Extension project at this point. The new schedule reflects what we believe to be a realistic and reasonable assessment of how long the project will take to complete from its current point of development, given the many complex, interrelated, and time-consuming tasks remaining.”
• “MassDOT and the MBTA are not satisfied with the current anticipated schedule for the Green Line Extension project. In the service of improving the anticipated schedule, MassDOT and the MBTA have called for the creation of a small Steering Group to consider ways to improve the schedule.”
• “MassDOT and the MBTA believed that previous schedules were attainable when we released them and that the level of detail and analysis was appropriate to the phase of project development. Since then, however, changes in the project; better understandings of the risks involved; and delays in the procurement, design, environmental, and real estate processes have made those schedules obsolete.”
• “MassDOT, the MBTA, and their technical consultant teams are continuing to work on the Green Line Extension project at the same pace and with the same level of determination as ever. There has been no cessation or slowdown of work.”
• “Funding the costs of constructing the Green Line Extension remains a significant challenge….Successful New Starts projects require a detailed and rigorous demonstration of the fundamental financial health of the applicant transportation agency, a threshold which will be difficult for the MBTA to meet.”
• “Regardless of whether the Green Line Extension project receives federal support, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is committed to funding the project out of available state monies.”
• “MassDOT and the MBTA will welcome recommendations for interim measures that will substantially and quantitatively improve air quality by reducing the use of private vehicles.”

Here are the reasons listed for the delay, all of which have been known challenges for years:

• “The time required to complete major property acquisition and relocations prior to the award of the Design-Build contract to complete the Green Line Extension.”
• “Coordination with over 40 different utilities and the time required for utility relocations as part of the bridge widening work.”
• “The fact that MBTA Commuter Rail operations must be maintained during construction, necessitating the sequencing of major bridge, retaining wall, signal, and drainage work.”
• “In addition, entering the federal New Starts program and complying with the federal environmental processes have added complexity to the schedule and proven to be more time-consuming than originally anticipated.”

Keep reading for the full MassDOT email.

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