THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION is preparing to award $335 million to Massachusetts for the $1.9 billion I-90 Allston project under a federal program designed to knit communities back together.
No official announcement has been made, but US Sen. Edward Markey tweeted on Monday afternoon that the money will help reunite the Allston and Brighton neighborhoods of Boston.
The award is a huge boost for a project that has been talked about for more than a decade and has recently gained some traction with an additional $300 million in commitments from the city of Boston, Harvard, and Boston University. But the award also comes with a requirement that the money needs to be “obligated” by September 30, 2026, which means the project needs to pick up a lot of speed in gaining environmental and regulatory approvals.
The I-90 Allston project calls for straightening and lowering to ground level the Massachusetts Turnpike as it passes between Boston University and the Charles River, making way for Harvard to create a whole new neighborhood, complete with a new MBTA station, on the university’s vast holdings in the area.
The project also holds promise for reconnecting a section of Boston that was severed by the construction of the Massachusetts Turnpike. By bringing the Turnpike to ground level, planners hope to build North-South connections in the area and provide greater access to the Charles River for residents on the Boston side who have been cut off by the highway.
For years, state transportation officials have talked about the project and how it should be designed, but funding has always remained elusive. The project previously failed to win federal funding under various programs, but in late September last year state transportation officials put together a more realistic funding plan for the project and set their sights on the federal program designed to reunify neighborhoods stranded by previous transportation projects.
The funding plan calls for construction to begin in 2027. Funding would come from unspecified state bonds and loans ($470 million), existing Turnpike toll funds ($200 million), and revenues from the millionaire tax ($450 million).
Another $300 million would come from the city of Boston, Harvard, and Boston University. The city would put up $100 million, another $100 million would come from so-called value capture from Harvard, and Harvard and BU in a 90-10 split would put $100 million toward a new West Station.
Harvard officials have described the value capture mechanism as an attempt to raise funding “through programs based on future property taxes (above a baseline amount), supplemental development-related fees, or other value capture mechanisms from an agreed-upon development district established by the city.”
The state, which previously unsuccessfully sought $1.2 billion in federal funding for the I-90 Allston project, scaled back that ask to $500 million under the Biden administration’s Neighborhood Access and Equity Grant program and received $335.4 million.
The grant program, funded by the Inflation Reduction Act, provides “funds for projects that improve walkability, safety, and affordable transportation access through context-sensitive strategies and address existing transportation facilities that create barriers to community connectivity or negative impacts on the human or natural environment, especially in disadvantaged or underserved communities.”
Kate Dineen, the president and CEO of the business group A Better City, called the federal funding “a massive win” for Massachusetts.
It also was a major victory for an extensive lobbying effort that included a six-minute video featuring testimonials from prominent political and business leaders, including Gov. Maura Healey and US Rep. Ayanna Pressley.