State awards grants to enhance Arsenal Street Corridor
State awards grants to enhance Arsenal Street Corridor
Watertown has been awarded $3.4 million from the Commonwealth to enhance the Arsenal Street Corridor, Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito announced Tuesday.
The award, part of the MassWorks Infrastructure Program grant program, will fund Phase I of the project, which spans approximately 2,700 feet of Arsenal Street from Arsenal Court to Lower Greenough Boulevard.
The project involves reconstruction, milling, and repaving of Arsenal Street, the addition of bike lanes, improved drainage, ADA-compliant sidewalks and wheelchair ramps, MBTA bus stops and shelters, new traffic control signals, new lighting, new landscape, and new pavement markings.
“This MassWorks award opens the door to important improvements that will make the Arsenal Street corridor safer and function more efficiently for all modes of transportation,” said Polito, who announced the award at an event Nov. 2 at the new Hilton Garden Inn at Arsenal Yards.
“In addition to supporting ongoing development in Watertown, this award promises to attract even more private investment resulting in new housing, more jobs, and additional retail and commercial opportunities,” she added.
Watertown’s award is part of this year’s round of MassWorks Infrastructure Program Grants announced last week. This year, the Baker-Polito Administration is awarding 56 grants from the infrastructure program – the largest number of awards in a single year in six years – totaling $66.5 million to 50 communities.
This was Watertown’s first ever MassWorks award.
The roadway improvements to Arsenal Street will support mixed use development at the adjacent Arsenal Yards as well as several other new and proposed developments along the corridor.
When complete, Arsenal Yards will have 302 apartments, with 45 units designated as affordable, space for approximately 50 restaurants and retail outlets, 146 hotel rooms, a supermarket, and nearly 500,000 square feet of laboratory space.
Other developments that will benefit from this investment include Arsenal on the Charles, a life sciences project with 950,000 square feet of development, and three other nearby lab developments: LINX (185,000 square feet), 99 Coolidge Avenue (255,000 square feet permitted), and 23 Elm Street (69,319 square feet proposed). A total of 1,857 permanent, full-time jobs and approximately 500 construction jobs will be created from these new developments.
“Arsenal Street is rapidly becoming a regional mixed-use corridor bringing new jobs and housing to Watertown, as envisioned in our Comprehensive Plan,” said Town Council President Mark Sideris. “But the key to the corridor’s future is improving conditions for cars and buses--and making it safer for workers and residents to walk and bike. That’s why this MassWorks Infrastructure grant is so important.”
“Watertown's Arsenal Street Corridor has experienced extraordinary growth over the past few years with more to come,” said state Rep. Steve Owens. “This MassWorks Grant represents an important investment in Watertown's future and a way for us to make Arsenal St safer for all road users.”
In addition to its first-ever MassWorks award, Watertown is receiving two other awards through One Stop for Growth, including a $250,000 Housing Choice Initiative grant.
The grant will help create walking and biking improvements to a segment of a shared-use path going through the Watertown Square area and connecting the Town’s mixed-use corridors between the intersection of Arsenal Street/Irving Street and the intersection of Mt. Auburn Street/Taylor Street to support existing and future multifamily developments in Watertown Square.
Watertown has also been awarded a $59,000 grant through the Community Planning Grant Program to update its Comprehensive Plan which was first adopted in 2015. The update will include a reassessment of the plan’s baseline and goals with the goal of producing a new implementation plan focusing on economic development, land use, and transportation, circulation, and parking.
This was Watertown’s first ever MassWorks award.
Charles River Chamber President Greg Reibman also spoke at event.
The award, part of the MassWorks Infrastructure Program grant program, will fund Phase I of the project, which spans approximately 2,700 feet of Arsenal Street from Arsenal Court to Lower Greenough Boulevard.
The project involves reconstruction, milling, and repaving of Arsenal Street, the addition of bike lanes, improved drainage, ADA-compliant sidewalks and wheelchair ramps, MBTA bus stops and shelters, new traffic control signals, new lighting, new landscape, and new pavement markings.
“This MassWorks award opens the door to important improvements that will make the Arsenal Street corridor safer and function more efficiently for all modes of transportation,” said Polito, who announced the award at an event Nov. 2 at the new Hilton Garden Inn at Arsenal Yards.
“In addition to supporting ongoing development in Watertown, this award promises to attract even more private investment resulting in new housing, more jobs, and additional retail and commercial opportunities,” she added.
Watertown’s award is part of this year’s round of MassWorks Infrastructure Program Grants announced last week. This year, the Baker-Polito Administration is awarding 56 grants from the infrastructure program – the largest number of awards in a single year in six years – totaling $66.5 million to 50 communities.
This was Watertown’s first ever MassWorks award.
The roadway improvements to Arsenal Street will support mixed use development at the adjacent Arsenal Yards as well as several other new and proposed developments along the corridor.
When complete, Arsenal Yards will have 302 apartments, with 45 units designated as affordable, space for approximately 50 restaurants and retail outlets, 146 hotel rooms, a supermarket, and nearly 500,000 square feet of laboratory space.
Other developments that will benefit from this investment include Arsenal on the Charles, a life sciences project with 950,000 square feet of development, and three other nearby lab developments: LINX (185,000 square feet), 99 Coolidge Avenue (255,000 square feet permitted), and 23 Elm Street (69,319 square feet proposed). A total of 1,857 permanent, full-time jobs and approximately 500 construction jobs will be created from these new developments.
“Arsenal Street is rapidly becoming a regional mixed-use corridor bringing new jobs and housing to Watertown, as envisioned in our Comprehensive Plan,” said Town Council President Mark Sideris. “But the key to the corridor’s future is improving conditions for cars and buses--and making it safer for workers and residents to walk and bike. That’s why this MassWorks Infrastructure grant is so important.”
“Watertown's Arsenal Street Corridor has experienced extraordinary growth over the past few years with more to come,” said state Rep. Steve Owens. “This MassWorks Grant represents an important investment in Watertown's future and a way for us to make Arsenal St safer for all road users.”
In addition to its first-ever MassWorks award, Watertown is receiving two other awards through One Stop for Growth, including a $250,000 Housing Choice Initiative grant.
The grant will help create walking and biking improvements to a segment of a shared-use path going through the Watertown Square area and connecting the Town’s mixed-use corridors between the intersection of Arsenal Street/Irving Street and the intersection of Mt. Auburn Street/Taylor Street to support existing and future multifamily developments in Watertown Square.
Watertown has also been awarded a $59,000 grant through the Community Planning Grant Program to update its Comprehensive Plan which was first adopted in 2015. The update will include a reassessment of the plan’s baseline and goals with the goal of producing a new implementation plan focusing on economic development, land use, and transportation, circulation, and parking.
This was Watertown’s first ever MassWorks award.
Charles River Chamber President Greg Reibman also spoke at event.
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