Crews are nearing substantial completion of the $20 million Boston Landing Station, which will return commuter rail service to the Boston neighborhood of Brighton after more than 50 years. “We’re into final trackwork, signals and inspections,” says Keith Craig, director of development at NB Development Group, Boston.
The unique construction-manager-at-risk project began in October 2015 and the station is scheduled to open in May. NB Development Group is the developer of the station that was designed by STV with Skanska USA Civil serving as the contractor.
The $20 million public-private station project, funded by athletic shoe maker New Balance, is considered a model for public infrastructure. The new train stop is on the Worcester-Framingham Line in an underserved neighborhood near New Balance’s $500 million headquarters.
“The strong communication and coordination between the developer, design and construction team, and our DOT and MBTA counterparts is rewarding the residents of the Commonwealth with the delivery of a new commuter rail station in the Allston/Brighton neighborhood, which will spur ridership and economic development,” Craig says.
Nearby crews recently broke ground for a $130-million, 295-unit Residences at Boston Landing project designed by Elkus Manfredi Architects with John Moriarity & Associates serving as the general contractor.
Mattapan Trolley Investment
On Feb. 28, the MBTA Fiscal and Management Control Board was briefed on a plan to invest $7.9 million to fully overhaul its existing Presidential Conference Committee streetcars with new propulsion, brakes, and power supply systems. The plan would extend the life of vehicles for the Mattapan-Ashmont Station High Speed Line, also known as the "Mattapan trolley."
This investment over the next two years includes a study of options for the future of the line. In December, the MBTA awarded CH2MHill $1.1 million to perform due diligence and review operations, track, bridges, vehicles, other infrastructure including peer PCC system benchmarking, according to a Feb. 27 FMCB State of the Line report. A technical review is expected by fall.
North-South Rail Link Study
On March 1, the Boston Globe reported that state transportation officials began soliciting bids to study a proposed rail tunnel to connect North Station with South Station. Some transportation experts now claim the decades-long idea deemed too expensive to construct, could benefit from modern construction technology that could bring the cost down from prior projections of $8 billion to $2 billion or $3 billion. Such a tunnel would create a direct unbroken rail route from Maine to Washington, D.C.
NOTEWORTY: MassDOT has approved a year-long $950,000 pilot program for expanding daily commuter rail service from South Station to Foxborough for an estimated 190 passengers daily. Tracks would require $10 million in upgrades before the service could begin.
