Federal funding was announced for another major bridge replacement project in Massachusetts on Monday, hundreds of millions of dollars for a near century-old drawbridge spanning the Charles River.
In what state officials are touting as a “game-changer,” the MBTA has won its largest federal award to date — $472 million from the US Department of Transportation — toward replacing the North Station Draw One Bridge, which connects the cities of Boston and Cambridge, the Healey-Driscoll administration announced. The overall project is expected to cost roughly $1.2 billion.
Located next to North Station, the drawbridge carries commuter rail and Amtrak trains. Officials said the infusion of federal grant money for the project, funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law signed into law by President Biden, will help to further modernize public transportation in the region by increasing train capacity and the frequency of rides.
The current bridge has two moveable spans with four tracks. The new drawbridge will have three moveable spans with additional tracks.
“We’re drawing up a new future for rail transit north of Boston,” Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey said in a statement. His comments were echoed by Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, who called the investment a “game-changer for the thousands of passengers who pass through North Station every day.”
The commuter rail lines that utilize the drawbridge include Haverhill, Lowell, Newburyport/Rockport, and Fitchburg. The project entails replacing the bridge and a control tower, extending the bridge platform, connecting tracks to the existing network, and making various other upgrades. Officials said the Depression-era bridge, built in 1931, will also be made more climate resilient by raising it above projected sea-level rise.
Governor Maura Healey said improving infrastructure in Massachusetts is “critical for improving quality of life” and ensuring that the state remains competitive. “That’s why our administration is competing so aggressively to win federal funding that can be put toward our roads, bridges, and public transportation,” she said in a statement.
Under Healey, the state has won nearly $8 billion in federal funding. Grants for transportation projects have gone toward protecting infrastructure from climate change, replacing the Sagamore Bridge on Cape Cod, and the proposed realignment of the Massachusetts Turnpike in Allston. Combined, the Biden administration is sending roughly $1.3 billion to Massachusetts for the latter two projects.
In an unprecedented financial investment in the nation’s aging infrastructure,Washington has further awarded federal grants to the MBTA this year for additional projects including $67 million for improving accessibility for passengers on the Green Line and nearly $40 million for replacing a fleet of diesel-fueled buses with battery-electric buses.
T officials said Monday’s funding announcement for the North Stationdrawbridge will help boost connectivity for rail operations and lay the groundwork for further transforming the commuter rail system down the line.
Plus, with the T facing an operations funding gap that could grow to $700 million next summer, T General Manager Phillip Eng said the grant money frees “up state capital dollars for other essential needs.”
The funding “allows us to ensure the efficient and reliable movement of all North Station train lines while greatly improving our ability to provide more frequent, regional rail-style service across the entire northside corridor to serve future generations to come,” Eng said in a statement.
Shannon Larson can be reached at shannon.larson@globe.com. Follow her @shannonlarson98.
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Publish date : 2024-09-23 05:51:00
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