Ribbon Cutting Transportation

Grand Opening Held for MBTA Green Line Extension

Green Line Extension to Union Square ribbon cutting ceremony / Photo courtesy of Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority

Boston – Balfour Beatty, as part of Green Line Extension (GLX) Constructors joint venture team, recently celebrated the grand opening of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Green Line Extension light rail project’s Union Square line in Somerville. The completion was celebrated at a ribbon-cutting ceremony with Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT); MBTA; federal, state, local officials including U.S. Senators Edward Markey and Elizabeth Warren, U.S. Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, and Somerville Mayor Katjana Ballantyne; and community partners.

The completion of the Green Line Extension to Union Square is the first of two lines that will be developed on the 4.7-mile light rail project. The major milestone includes the delivery of approximately one mile of double track electrified railroad, developed adjacent to the existing Fitchburg Commuter Rail tracks, that now consists of two public train stations now open for public revenue service extending from Lechmere Station in Cambridge and Union Station in Somerville.

GLX Constructors project team members delivered system elements including one traction power substation, four signal houses and a complete overhead contact system. The team also completed 13-track storage yards that are approximately two track miles, plaza areas around stations, a mile-long viaduct, sound walls, fencing, one vehicle maintenance facility, and one transportation building, all built in environmentally sensitive areas.

The second line of the Green Line Extension rail system will feature the construction of five stations that will be developed along the existing Lowell Commuter Rail corridor extending from Lechmere Station to College Avenue in Medford. This line is expected to be completed in late summer 2022.

Once complete, MBTA’s Green Line Extension project is expected to significantly reduce automobile congestion and related air emission. It will also provide communities with universal access and new stations that meet or exceed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards. It is expected to support increased ridership of more than 50,000 passenger trips per day and reduce regional daily Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) by 25,728 miles.