![]() However, as with the Quincy project, the T is expecting to pay an eye-popping price for the new building: its current construction budget is $495 million.Īt a public meeting for the project last month, Alexandra Markiewicz, the T's Deputy Director of Bus Modernization, noted that "this estimate does not include total costs that you might see in the capital improvement plan, like some of our additional professional services, utility upgrades, and back-end costs." The T would like to wrap up its preliminary design for the project this summer, and have its final plans for construction to begin by 2025. The new garage would be built along the Arborway, and could also free up over 6 acres of land for new transit-oriented housing along Washington Street, where the existing bus yard is located. An overview map of MBTA-owned land next to Forest Hills Station where the T plans to build a new bus garage. Once the new garage is built, roughly 6 acres of land along Washington Street, where the current bus yard is located, would become available for new transit-oriented housing development. The T plans to use those additional higher-capacity vehicles on Route 32, which runs along Hyde Park Avenue between Forest Hills and Readville. The expanded garage space would also let the T buy more 60-foot articulated or "bendy" buses, like the ones that currently serve routes 39 and 28. A rendering of the proposed new Arborway bus garage. It would replace an existing open-air yard for the MBTA's methane gas-powered buses, which are nearing the end of their useful life. The garage would have two levels for bus parking with space to accommodate 200 electric buses. Meanwhile, the T is also making progress on early designs for its next new garage in Boston's Jamaica Plain neighborhood. Price for New Arborway Garage Approaches Half A Billion Pesaturo told StreetsblogMASS that the North Cambridge project "will be advertised for construction bids next month" and would be ready for service in 2025. The facility is significantly smaller than the Quincy garage, with space for just 35 buses, and because it was already being used for electric buses, it already has robust connections to the electric grid. ![]() The North Cambridge project budget is just $36 million – less than one-tenth the cost of the Quincy garage. The North Cambridge garage on Massachusetts Avenue west of Davis Square was the former home of the MBTA's electric trolleybus fleet. North Cambridge Garage Renovations Also Getting UnderwayĪ much smaller project to renovate an existing bus garage in North Cambridge will also get underway later this year, says Pesaturo. ![]() Pesaturo says that the new garage is now on schedule to open three years from now, in 2026. "Previously, one charging unit was available for only two buses, but now one is available for three," wrote Pesaturo in an email. One silver lining in the project's delays: improvements in battery technology have allowed for some other cost-saving design changes. The existing Quincy garage, located on the other side of the city, only has space for 86. The updated design includes several changes to reduce the project's costs, including the removal of some office space and reducing the building's height from three stories to two.Ĭonsistent with previous designs, the new Quincy garage will accommodate 120 buses. The proposed garage was designed to store new electric buses, but construction has been on hold for more than a year now. A 2021 rendering of the proposed Quincy bus garage on Burgin Parkway in Quincy, across the street from the Quincy Adams Red Line station. The MBTA's 2023 capital budget authorized a $402 million budget for Quincy the proposed 2024 capital budget authorizes $476 million. The budget for building the new garage has gone up about 20 percent over the past year. The MBTA's board is expected to approve a final "guaranteed maximum price" contract for the project this fall. Suffolk, the MBTA, and various subcontractors are also collaborating this summer to finalize the design with an eye toward controlling costs. Pesaturo told StreetsblogMASS that Suffolk is getting ready to continue site preparation work in August, starting with an extension of Columbia Street along the northern edge of the future garage. Recommended Quincy Bus Garage Back Out to Bid, Delayed ‘Til End of 2025
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