SOMERVILLE, MASS. (WHDH) - U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao joined Gov. Charlie Baker, Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, and other federal, state, and city leaders Monday at the groundbreaking ceremony for the massive $2.3 billion Green Line extension project — the largest MBTA transit expansion in years.
The cities of Cambridge and Somerville will provide a combined $75 million for the megaproject, which will extend the Green Line about 4.7 miles from the Lechmere stop in Cambridge through Somerville and into Medford, creating seven new T stops along the way.
“We’re going to create new local jobs, good-paying jobs for people,” Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone said at the ceremony near the Union Square spur on Prospect Street. “We’ll net 30,000 new jobs for the region and 10,000 new units of housing in an area where we’re dealing with a housing crisis … This is going to improve our quality of life.”
Construction of the extension is expected to begin this fall and the project is expected to wrap up sometime in 2021.
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