Medford Officials Want MBTA Garage Removed
Donato, McGlynn tell Gov. Patrick the Salem Street area could be redeveloped for mixed-use purposes.
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Medford officials told Gov. Deval Patrick Wednesday they would like to see the MBTA bus garage on Salem Street removed for the benefit of the neighborhood.
During his visit of Medford's MBTA facilities, Patrick took a look at the facility located next to the plaza where the new Stop & Shop is located.
The bus garage is a location Medford Rep. Paul Donato and Mayor Michael McGlynn would like to see moved, potentially to Wellington Station, and re-developed.
Donato said the garage is the "most-antiquated" as well as the smallest such facility in the MBTA system.
McGlynn called the parcel "prime" for mixed-use residential or commercial purposes.
Massachusetts Transportation Secretary Richard Davey said the cost of such a project to move to Wellington, where the space for the buses already exists, would be about $100 million.
"Eventually, for both the neighborhood and the T, it would be the best for us to move out of here," Davey said.
Donato said the buses begin running at the facility at 4 a.m. each day, causing noise problems for the Haines Square neighborhood as well as environmental and health concerns.
"I used to eat those fumes every morning," said McGlynn, who once lived on nearby Emerald Street.
"This is an opportunity in this community to expand for retail, commercial and residential," Donato said.
Donato said he views the project as being a potential part of a transportation bond issue.
Watch more from the exchange Wednesday between McGlynn, Donato, Patrick and Davey in the video above.
Rick Catino
5:51 pm on Thursday, March 14, 2013
If I read this story correctly, Richard Davey estimates a cost $100M to move this operation to Wellington Station WHERE THE SPACE ALREADY EXISTS? The only interpretation I can make here is a cost of $90M +/- for demolition of the old facilities in Haines Square. I'd love to bid on that contract! No wonder the T is in such a mess. I have to be missing something... this can't be correct.....
Paul O'Donnell
12:33 pm on Thursday, March 28, 2013
When Davey says space, he means land. No actual facility for bus maintenance exists at Wellington. It would be built on land behind the bus boarding area adjacent to the orange line tracks.
M
7:46 pm on Thursday, March 14, 2013
How does this "move" involve anything more than driving the buses to a different place and parking them there (cost = zero). Maybe if there is an office, moving the furniture, and/or moving spare bus parts, etc. Still ought to be under a mil. The demolition would be paid by whoever buys the site. The only way I could see there being a real cost is if there were underground storage tanks for fuel on the site.
Ken Krause
9:36 pm on Thursday, March 14, 2013
I agree about the exorbitance of these cost estimates. On the other hand, in 2006 when the MBTA first promised to relocate the bus parking, the cost was estimated at $120 million! And by the way, why do all the media treat this like it's a new story? The same thing were being said in 2006: http://bit.ly/13WboQU
M
10:11 pm on Thursday, March 14, 2013
Ken, that article is practically the exact same story with exact same quotes - maybe someone on Patch mistakenly dug up an old story? Or, maybe they already spend the 120 mil getting Wellington ready and now need to spend 100 mil to move (sad, but believable in this state)? I hope that the 100 mil is referring to past cash spend getting Wellington ready already (i.e., that maybe the proposed 120 mil actually turned out to be less in actual costs), but the odds of my winning Powerball 3 times in a row are better than the odds of an MBTA project coming in under budget.
Sean
12:22 pm on Friday, March 15, 2013
The new GM of the MBTA bankrupt the last one she ran. Another special list for deval's friends.
Ken Krause
1:31 pm on Wednesday, March 20, 2013
The 2003 MBTA Strategic Plan for bus facilities put the cost of the new Wellington bus facility (including closing down the Salem Street car barn) at $70 million. See what delaying these needed projects does to the price tag?
http://www.mbta.com/uploadedFiles/documents/Bus_Maint_Recommendations1.pdf