MBTA to hasten capital construction projects under new state plan

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker yesterday announced a plan designed to accelerate the pace of capital construction projects at the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA).

Through a five-part strategy, the acceleration plan will build on the authority's safety and capital investment programs, helping to facilitate more construction and maintenance projects within shorter timeframes, Baker said in a press release.

The MBTA is in the midst of executing a five-year, $8 billion capital program that prioritizes core system investments in new vehicles, track, signals, power systems and maintenance facilities. The authority is expanding its focus to include ways to increase the pace of all projects and ensure system reliability by increasing maintenance and inspection intervals that more properly reflect the age and condition of many assets.

The state's proposal calls for:
• exploring more aggressive work scheduling on evenings and weekends to expedite infrastructure improvements;
• increasing the frequency of proactive inspections and preventive maintenance to find and fix potential issues before they impact service;
• changing laws to support flexible procurement and project delivery approaches;
• negotiating with industry partners to expedite manufacturing, accelerate contract milestones and compress project schedules; and
• creating a new, flexible team of additional MBTA personnel and contracted resources to focus on expediting construction and infrastructure projects.

Including flaggers, engineers, bus operators and track, signals and power personnel, the team will have the flexibility to work on both operating and capital projects, which will require a one-time infusion of $50 million in operating budget funds, state officials said.

"The MBTA has made tremendous gains since the winter of 2015 to control its operating costs, strengthen the pipeline to design and build capital projects, and take steps to improve service by focusing investments on core system infrastructure," said Baker. "In order to capitalize on that progress, this acceleration plan will allow [the authority] to continue its investments at a faster pace, with greater focus on service improvements."

The MBTA traditionally conducted capital work during overnight hours when trains weren't in service, but that often prevented multiple activities from occurring simultaneously. Expanding work windows – through a combination of shutting down service earlier in the evening and for consecutive days – will allow the MBTA to increase efforts during a planned service disruption, authority officials said.

"This acceleration plan will give us tools we need to be more aggressive in our capital investments, but more important, it allows us to treat this situation with the urgency our customers demand," said MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak.