MGH, however, seems uninterested in ponying up much more money. In other parts of the region, developers have increasingly helped fund nearby transit projects, including subsidies of more than $10 million for the Assembly Row Orange Line Station and the Boston Landing commuter rail stop. “It’s an opportunity to marry the projects,” he said. But that is unlikely to cover even the costs of permitting and engineering, Pesaturo said, never mind construction.ĭespite the financial uncertainty, state Senator Joseph Boncore, a Winthrop Democrat who leads the Senate’s transportation initiatives, said the connector should be expedited so it can be completed in tandem with the MGH expansion, since the area will already be undergoing significant construction. The MBTA has already put about $2 million into planning, expects to spend more than $3.5 million to advance the project next year, and will have about $9.5 million available beyond that. (The MBTA has stressed that this does not include work beyond the tunneling, such as tracks, power systems, platforms, and station infrastructure, which would add considerably to the total.)Įven so, there still is no clear funding source for the project. The T later determined that, depending on the construction method, it could build a tunnel for much less, perhaps as low as $200 million to $350 million. Still, that was enough of a spark to get state transit officials to take another look at the costs that would be associated with the proposal, once estimated at $750 million. At the time, the city described the expansion as a “clear goal” of the state - even though the state and federal governments had just formally shelved the project. It returned to the forefront in 2017, however, when Boston officials tried to court Amazon to open a headquarters at Suffolk Downs. Paying for a ride, however, will be a little tricky Related : The new Green Line will be ready in the fall. But it was set aside by the administration of former governor Deval Patrick, and the federal government allowed the state to escape the commitment in 2015, after Governor Charlie Baker had taken office. The connector was promised years ago as environmental mitigation for the Big Dig, similar to the long-awaited Green Line extension that is finally wrapping up this year. that people are more congenial than they were five years ago.” “I don’t know if it’s anything definitive, but I would read into it. “The meetings are a good sign,” said James Aloisi, a former state transportation secretary who has long advocated for the connection. Still, supporters of the connector are encouraged by the level of detail of the plans, and the attention the MBTA and MGH are giving to an idea that was once left for dead. The space set aside for the station entrance, hospital officials said, may wind up getting leased to a retailer until the MBTA is ready. Related : MBTA plans to spend $2 billion on upgrades, repairs next yearįor its part, MGH expects to complete its expansion by 2030 meanwhile, the Red-Blue connector has no clear timeline. In some ways, the conversations seem less focused on facilitating the Red-Blue connector, and more about ensuring the hospital expansion won’t block the transit project in the future. The hospital’s plans are limited to building an area to access the Blue Line station - not the station itself, or the tunneling and rail construction under Cambridge Street. To be sure, this commitment from MGH does not ensure the Blue Line extension will happen. We had to figure out a lot of it out now.” We didn’t want to say yes to something, and then not be able to build it in the future. “There are a lot of details we had to take into consideration. “There’s more than just the agreement on the concept of doing it,” said Nicholas Haney, project manager for planning and construction at MGH. Plans seem far along, containing such details as where elevators and escalators would be located, how to separate transit and hospital facilities, and where to build an underground wall that will later get knocked down to provide access to the future Blue Line station. Related : MGH pushes ahead with nearly $2 billion expansionĪs part of its $1.9 billion expansion, MGH last month unveiled a proposal to set aside space for an entrance to a new underground Blue Line station in one of two towers it wants to build along Cambridge Street.
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