Twenty-five years ago, State Representative Kay Khan began her quest to upgrade the three commuter rail stations in her Newton district — Auburndale, West Newton and Newtonville — because none of them are accessible and none have both in-bound and out-bound platforms. In fact, trains stop less often in Newton than in Wellesley, and the MBTA schedule indicates that the three stations are flag stops — meaning the train stops only if there are people on the platform or who want to disembark. Newtonville is the only stop with no specified parking, since the public lot has been transformed into 28 Austin Street.
Rep. Jake Auchincloss, whose Congressional district includes Newton, and has been a Framingham-Worcester Line commuter, noted in a the December 6th edition of State House News, “Think of Newton as bottleneck, where the Framingham-Worcester Line can never really become a regional rail, it can never develop beyond being sort of nine-to-five commuter service into truly 24/7 or even just more expansive regional service until these commuter rail stations get fixed.” Current construction estimates for all three stations are about $170 million. Federal dollars depend on the state’s demonstration of financial commitment.
With increasing pressure to build “transit-oriented” housing along Washington Street — e.g., TRIO — the reality of limited access to pubic transportation encouraged more support for upgrading the stations. State Senator Cynthia Creem, Senate Majority Leader, and Mayor Ruthanne Fuller have joined the effort to advance the projects.
Rep. Auchincloss and Mayor Fuller appealed to Governor Baker for state funding. Working together, Senator Creem won Senate support for an $85 million authorization in the Transportation Bond Bill, while Rep. Kay Khan worked to convince the conference committee to include the full $85 million earmark in the final version of the bill, which Gov. Baker signed in August.
After working for twenty-five years, Rep. Khan was moved to say: “This funding moves us closer to critical reconstruction of the 3 Commuter Rail Stations in the city of Newton. With ‘everyone on board’ and the design of the three stations well underway, I am certain the MBTA will prioritize moving this long overdue project forward. New stations will provide the infrastructure needed for safe public access, ensure the Americans With Disabilities Act accessibility, address reliability enable increased service, frequency, improve current operations and modernize the system.”
Although the Legislature and Gov. Baker have authorized the funding, the actual bonding will be left to the incoming Healey administration. The MBTA has the authority to issue bonds, but the Newton delegation will have to lobby for the funding. At the same time, Rep. Auchincloss has requested $7 million in the federal budget that he hopes will be approved. Apart from the need to make transit-oriented development truly “transit-oriented,” construction costs are rising, and with them, the likelihood that the project will require more than $170 million.
State Senator Creem commented:
“Newton’s elected officials have been working in lockstep to find funding for accessible new commuter rail stations that will allow the MBTA to offer better service to every community along the Worcester-Framingham Line, and we are making steady progress toward that goal. I was proud to secure an $85 million bond authorization for the project in the Transportation Bond Bill that we passed into law this summer. Now we will work to convince Governor’s Baker administration, or if necessary the incoming governor’s administration, to allocate that funding. Massachusetts has a rare opportunity to make this transformative project a reality, and we must seize it.”
