BOSTON, Mass. /Massachusetts Newswire/ — As part of the Patrick-Murray Administration’s historic Massachusetts Works program to promote job growth and long-term economic recovery, Governor Deval Patrick and Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray today joined Boston Mayor Thomas Menino to break ground on the $13.5 million Yawkey Commuter Rail Station reconstruction project, a key public transportation component of the $450 million Fenway Center development.
When completed, Yawkey Station will be a full-service commuter rail station with full-length accessible station platforms providing access from Beacon Street and Brookline Avenue and more than doubling service on the Worcester-Framingham Commuter Rail Line from 17 to 40 stops per day. The station construction is expected to create 150-200 jobs.
The planned Fenway Center development project includes air rights development over Interstate 90 and will create significant pedestrian and green space improvements while providing transit and office space in the Longwood Medical and Fenway area. The project includes more than 330 apartments, 370,000 square feet of office space, 150,000 square feet of retail space, more than 30,000 square feet of park space, and more than 1,000 parking spaces.
“Strategic investments in public transportation revitalize neighborhoods,” said Governor Patrick. “This project will serve thousands of people commuting to work in the Longwood Medical area, one of the fastest growing and most important job creation engines in Massachusetts.”
“Improving and expanding commuter rail service is a critical component of our administration’s transportation reform efforts in Boston and across the Commonwealth,” said Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray. “Today’s groundbreaking marks a major step forward for increased service along the Worcester-Framingham commuter rail line and also investment in a key transit-oriented development project that will yield benefits for the Boston community and beyond.”
“The new Yawkey Station is going to bring real benefits to our city and improve how people access the Fenway and Longwood Medical Area,” said Mayor Thomas M. Menino. “It will make traveling to and from this area easier and ease traffic on city streets while also putting 200 people back to work through the construction. Separately, the new station signifies the beginning of the larger Fenway Center project, which will significantly transform the public realm between Kenmore Square, Fenway and the Audubon Circle with the creation of a number of new amenities including retail space, housing, and new green space.”
“Fenway Center is a great example of state government at work, planning for the future, and improving Massachusetts’ transportation infrastructure for economic growth. This is a great project for my constituents and for this district as it will revitalize and improve underused land in the heart of one of Boston’s most visible neighborhoods, and as a long-time proponent of this project I am overjoyed that Fenway Center is moving forward. I support multi-modal transportation and smart growth and the planned improvements to Yawkey Station demonstrate a strong commitment to these concepts. I know that commuters and the residents of the Fenway, Audubon Circle, and of Boston look forward to the completion of the station improvement and to the commencement of construction on the residential and commercial parts of the larger project,” said Senator Steven A. Tolman.
“The new Yawkey Commuter Rail Station is a significant public transit addition to the Fenway. With full service and regular stops a day on the Worcester-Framingham Commuter Line it will be as useful to my constituents, the residents of the Fenway, as it will be to our seasonal visitors, the Red Sox fans. The planned Fenway Center is now the first development in our neighborhoods that is tied to an actual improvement in public transportation. I hope this becomes the norm for 21st century major development in Boston,” said Representative Byron Rushing.
“The combination of a complete upgrade for Yawkey Station and a larger development project that includes residential, commercial, retail and parking space is a prime example of transit-oriented development and smart growth, a priority for the Governor and MassDOT,” said MassDOT Secretary and CEO Jeffrey Mullan.
Construction on the station will begin this year with completion slated for spring 2012. An extension of Yawkey Way will connect the station with shuttle buses that serve the Longwood Medical Area, creating an intermodal connection for thousands of employees. A bicycle share station and bicycle racks are also planned as part of the project.
The new Yawkey Station will be powered entirely by solar power, making it the Commonwealth’s first net-zero energy rail station. The solar power, transit improvements, bike amenities, and improved pedestrian connections support “GreenDOT,” a comprehensive environmental responsibility and sustainability initiative to make the Patrick-Murray Administration’s MassDOT a national leader in “greening” the state transportation system.
Intermodal transit projects are a part of the more than $4 billion infrastructure investments being made through the Administration’s Massachusetts Works initiative putting nearly 20,000 people to work across the Commonwealth this construction season.
To learn more about Massachusetts Works, visit www.mass.gov/governor/massworks. For additional information on how the Patrick-Murray Administration’s agenda has led Massachusetts out of a global recession sooner and stronger than the rest of the nation, visit www.mass.gov/governor/agenda.
For transportation news and updates, visit the MassDOT website at www.mass.gov/massdot, the MassDOT blog at www.mass.gov/blog/transportation or follow MassDOT on twitter at www.twitter.com/massdot .
