Late last week, working under the deadline of inauguration day, the Biden administration's United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) announced a blitz of new grants that will fund various Massachusetts infrastructure projects from the 2021 infrastructure law.
Most of the funding comes from two federal grant programs: the Reconnecting Communities grant program, which aims to "reconnect communities that are cut off from opportunity and burdened by past transportation infrastructure decisions," and the larger Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grant program.
Both programs are "discretionary," which means that USDOT staff in Washington, and Secretary Pete Buttigieg, decide which projects receive funding in a competitive process that chooses from hundreds of applications from cities and state departments of transportation.
StreetsblogMASS is reaching out to the sponsors of these projects to get more information, and we may follow up with more details in the weeks to come. For now, here's a broad overview of the funding Massachusetts will receive:
Ashuwillticook Trail Extension, North Adams
The Berkshire Regional Planning Commission (BRPC) won a $17.3 million RAISE grant to plan and design a multi-phase extension of the Ashuwillticook Trail, which currently extends north from Pittsfield into Adams along the Hoosic River, through the city of North Adams to Williamstown.
"The 10-mile trail segment will be predominantly in the city of North Adams, with connections across the city line to Adams and Williamstown," Nick Russo, a BRPC planner, told StreetsblogMASS last week.
Southern Artery, Quincy
The City of Quincy will receive a $10.4 million RAISE grant to construct "complete streets improvements" to a half-mile segment of the lethally dangerous Southern Artery, a four-lane highway that blights the city's north side.
According to the USDOT's grant announcement, the project will create "a tree-lined raised median, separated multi-use path, left turning lanes, access management and traffic calming measures, ADA sidewalks, transit stop improvements, and stormwater and utility upgrades."
The project extends from Coddington Street near Quincy High School to Pond Street near Monroe Playground – a stretch that connects several large senior housing complexes with a Stop and Shop and the Quincy YMCA.
McGrath Boulevard, Somerville
The City of Somerville received a $43.2 million capital construction grant from the Reconnecting Communities grant program to build its long-planned McGrath Boulevard project.
Under that project, Somerville would tear down viaducts on the obsolete McGrath Highway and replace them with "a ground-level multimodal boulevard with fewer vehicle travel lanes, protected bike facilities, and more accessible sidewalks and crossings."
Center Street, Downtown Pittsfield
The City of Pittsfield won a $1.6 million Reconnecting Communities planning grant to help the city "remove an arterial interchange that splinters the west side from downtown."
The study will focus on Center Street, a sparsely-used multi-lane "bypass" that slices through a 20th-century urban renewal zone of destruction on the west side of Pittsfield's downtown.
According to USDOT's grant award, the funding will "establish vision, program, and preferred alternative concept design... for a final master plan that has a high probability of long-term success."
More funding for Boston, Southbridge, Revere, and statewide EV charging
In addition to the infrastructure grants listed above, USDOT also pledged funding for several other Massachusetts grant applications, including:
- $14.4 million from the Infrastructure Law's Charging and Fueling Discretionary Grant program for MassDOT and the MBTA to install over 400 electric vehicle charging ports at Park and Ride lots and MBTA stations.
- A $7.9 million construction grant for the Town of Southbridge to rebuild a 0.8-mile segment of Hamilton Street as a "complete street" with "widened sidewalks, designated bike lanes, and improved crossings" between Main Street to Hook Street in downtown Southbridge.
- $4 million in two separate Reconnecting Communities planning grants for the City of Boston. One grant of $2 million will help the city finance its ongoing efforts to redesign the JFK/UMass station area (we covered the kickoff for this plan in 2023). Another $2 million will bankroll ongoing planning for a redesigned Mattapan Square with "a generous public realm that is safe and easy to navigate."
- $400,000 for the City of Revere to plan better access to its Wonderland Blue Line station and a possible new regional rail stop on the Newburyport/Rockport line. The grant award will fund planning "for paved multi-use paths that connect residents to local educational and workforce development facilities and opportunities that will be reachable through the new Commuter Rail Station at Wonderland Park, Revere."
