Feds push Assembly Square T stop forward

By George P. Hassett

Preliminary work on an Orange Line train station can begin immediately in Assembly Square because of a recent Federal Transit Administration (FTA) decision, according to Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone.

Curtatone said this week that FTA officials have given their assurance to Congressman Michael E. Capuano, D-Somerville, that the $40-million project will not have to pre-qualify for the FTA’s “Small Starts” program, which could have slowed the process down. 

Instead, the project has been given exempt status which means that although federal funding still depends on a formal application and review process, preliminary engineering and environmental review work can begin immediately.

“This ruling from the FTA clears the decks for work to get under way on this crucial element in the overall Assembly Square development plan,” Curtatone said in a statement. “It’s also a reminder that Assembly Square is the most exciting Smart Growth, transit-oriented development in the region – a model for the way urban development is supposed to work.”

Capuano has already secured a congressional authorization for $25 million to help pay for the new station and Assembly Square’s lead developer, Federal Investment Realty Trust (FRIT) and furniture retailer IKEA have pledged $10 million and $5 million respectively.

He said the latest progress is a significant move towards fully developing Assembly Square. The project had been caught in limbo for years until a settlement last year between activists of the Mystic View Task Force, FRIT and the city resolved the lawsuits holding the project up. 

“This designation represents an important step forward for Assembly Square and will allow work to proceed on the T station,” Capuano said. “And I will continue working with local officials and the FTA to advance this project.”

The 145 acre Assembly Square development district is slated to become home to over 2,100 new housing units, 1.75 million square feet of office space, 450,500 square feet of new retail and restaurant uses, a movie theater, a 200-room hotel and a 310,000 square foot IKEA store. Construction of the IKEA store is slated to begin in the spring of 2008.

Comments

[somebody]

This all sounds good, but nobody has addressed the issue of the IKEA traffic that will congest the whole area. I'm not a big fan of IKEA stores, but apparently many people are, because every IKEA store I've ever seen has tons of traffic to get in/out. ...And people shopping at IKEA are not going to use the orange line.

[Born Here]

Kudos to Con. Capuano on this. The impact on city services is gonna be huge. With 2100 residential units your looking at over 5000 new residents. Add in thousands of shoppers and vehicles. City services are already thin. DPW stretched out, Police and Fire overloaded with work, and teachers and schools that are bursting at the seams. But hey, the good news is you can buy a cheap dining room set and lug it onto the orange line.

[Charlie D.]

It's going to take many creative and forward-thinking solutions to make this all work, for sure. From what I understand, IKEA traffic, after the initial store opening, becomes much more manageable. I was recently down at the IKEA in Stoughton in the middle of a weekend, and the traffic was not backed up at all.

It's also going to take the best efforts of the city and state to make the area far more pedestrian and bicycle friendly than it is now, as well as to increase bus service from the surrounding areas.

There is a lot of work to be done, but the end result has great potential to be a jewel of Somerville. I think the mayor is up to the challenge.

[You]

God please have mercy on fools like Charlie D. He must be one of the fools that hope to get rich at Assembly Square there can never b another Dapper Dan's or Good Times. You can't have a fund raiser on SWEDISH MEATBALLS!

[Charlie Alianno is fool]

Why are Charlie Alianno and Stank Koty at war? Why is Charlie Alianno so consumed with stanky?

[nobody]

I'm worried about traffic too, but the Stoughton IKEA is partly so popular because its the only one in the area.

[Tired]

Don't forget, the IKEA store in Stoughton will never be as crowded as an IKEA close to the city. IKEA products are basically stylish disposable furniture (no heirloom items). Who would patronize such a store? College kids, graduate students and other newly minted adults. Where do most of these people reside? Cambridge, Somerville & Boston, right? If Stoughton had traffic problems, can you imagine what Somerville will have to deal with? Even with a train stop, I am sure the traffic will still be atrocious...who goes furniture shopping on the T?

[Traffic concerns]

With or without IKEA, this project is going to be a traffic nightmare! Do you honestly think that McGrath Highway at rush hour can accomodate even a small number of these new residents? Have you tried to travel over the bridge into Wellington Circle lately? We simply don't have the infrastructure to make this work. I don't care if there is a subway stop, even if many of these people commute by the T to work, they will still have cars, and still be using these same already-clogged roads at other times.