Federal money is slated to cover about $1 billion of the project but MBTA general manager Frank DePaola admitted that if the state doesn’t come up with a “reasonable way to finance the budget shortfall, they could take it away”. But the bid for the work comes in at nearly a full $1 billion Massachusetts would have to pay for itself.
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The cost to the state for the expansion was initially projected at about $2.3 billion. One way around that may be more modest stations (this is the Green Line after all). Additionally state transportation officials are looking at the possibility of using other revenue sources, including federal highway funding and potentially value-capture funding from entities that would benefit from the new transit line.
White Skanska Kiewit, which has been assigned construction of the project under a unique procurement process, now estimates construction of those first three stations to cost $898 million throwing into question the affordability of the plan to build a total of seven stations ending near Tufts University.
The project, which calls for a five-mile, six stop expansion and new light rail vehicles, could now be in jeopardy.
Yet another issue revealed Monday for the embattled MBTA.
New questions are being raised about the MBTA green line extension into Somerville and Medford.
The matter was discussed today at a meeting of the MBTA’s new Fiscal and Management Control Board. According to DePaola, seals between panes of glass have failed, allowing moisture to get between them and causing fogginess to appear inside the windows.
With no action, other estimates are also expected to rise in future phases of the project, DePaola said.
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“I’ve actually known this since May 21”, DePaola said. “The inner gas has leaked out and moisture has gotten in, so if you look at many of them closely you’ll see fogging on the inside of the window”. The state will likely need new bond financing to ultimately meet all the costs.
