Did the city of Boston have to pay for the Big Dig when it went way over budget? No. Did suburban communities have to pay when the commuter rail lines were extended? No. Will other cities have to pay for future T extensions? Unlikely. But for now, Somerville might be asked to pay up for the Green Line Extension.
This critical project is currently on hold because of poor management, an unwise procurement process, and profiteering contractors who inflated their estimates. The state is trying to get the overall costs down and obtain more realistic estimates for building the Green Line. But it looks like Somerville, which has suffered from the lack of good public transportation, will now suffer in a different way and be asked to foot part of the bill. This is an astounding precedent.
Read more about the details…
“MBTA could ask for future funds from cities” (Medford Transcript)
“If project managers cannot bring the price of the project back to its original budget, the MBTA board will be looking for local funds from Medford, Somerville and Cambridge to move the project forward, the state’s Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack told a group of reporters after the meeting….’Once we have the new price tag, if it exceeds the currently available resources, we will need the communities to step up to the plate,’ Pollack said.”