The MBTA has filed for a state environmental review of a proposed new bus maintenance facility in Quincy – a project that could be crucial to longer-term plans to expand bus service throughout the region.
In a project notification form submitted late last month, the MBTA seeks permission under the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) to build "a new two- to three-story bus maintenance and storage facility" at 599 Thomas Burgin Parkway in Quincy, the site of an abandoned Lowe's store next to the Quincy Adams Red Line station.
The MBTA's Quincy bus maintenance garage was originally built in the early years of the Great Depression. Photo by Wikimedia Commons user Pi.1415926535, licensed under Creative Commons.
The proposed facility would replace the existing Quincy bus garage (pictured at right), which is one of the T's oldest bus maintenance facilities.
A conceptual site plan for a proposed new bus garage in Quincy, showing new and upgraded pedestrian routes to the Quincy Adams Red Line station. Courtesy of the MBTA.
The T's garage proposal would also build a new shared-use path through the site and upgrade crosswalks across Burgin Parkway to give the new garage's neighbors in South Quincy a convenient route to the Red Line.
The T expects to employ the 450 employees at the new garage. In spite of the site's proximity to multiple bus routes and the Red Line, the project also proposes a 235-space surface parking lot for those employees.
The agency hopes to complete design and permitting for the new garage in the coming year, begin construction in 2022, and have the new facility open in mid-2024.
"A lot of these historic maps illuminate modern-day mobility issues," says Garrett Dash Nelson, the President and Head Curator of the Leventhal Map and Education Center. "We want people to think, this isn't just about the past, but about building a more inclusive transit system for the future."