March 5, 2009
By John Laidleri/The Boston Globe
Lynn has been awarded $4 million from the federal stimulus package to help fund the development of a commuter ferry terminal, part of an initial round of state projects to land pieces of sweeping legislation aimed at boosting the economy.
"It's very exciting," said state Senator Thomas M. McGee, calling construction of the Blossom Street terminal "a terrific project for Lynn."
The terminal was among projects allotted about $330 million in federal stimulus money last week by the Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization, the agency that allocates federal transportation dollars for 101 Boston-area communities.
The awards provided some of the first signs of potential benefits to the state from the federal stimulus initiated by President Obama. Cash-strapped cities and towns have submitted wish lists of projects they hope will receive funding under the $787 billion package.
Federal help, meanwhile, may be on its way via another route. The Senate this week was poised to act on a $410 billion omnibus spending plan approved by the House of Representatives last week. The bill includes earmarks for local projects.
James M. Cowdell, executive director of the Lynn Economic Development Industrial Corp., called the federal stimulus award for the ferry project "awesome" news.
Cowdell said that with $750,000 from the Massachusetts Seaport Advisory Council, Lynn has completed the first of three phases of the project, which in addition to a terminal calls for the purchase of a ferry that would operate year-round between Lynn and Boston.
Lynn had planned to seek funding from the seaport council for the second phase, but with the federal money can now move forward with both remaining phases at once, Cowdell said.
Meanwhile, the Cape Ann Transportation Authority shared in about $200 million in mass transit money that was part of the funds awarded by the Boston Region MPO from the stimulus package.
The transportation authority, which provides bus and van service in Cape Ann, will get $430,710 for the purchase of an additional bus, new radios, and security cameras, according to general manager Bob Ryan.
"I'm very much pleased. With the economy going the way it's going, it's going to help people," he said, noting that all the products the authority is buying are American-made.
The Boston Region MPO also allotted $37 million for MBTA projects to replace existing single tracks with double tracks on the Haverhill and Fitchburg commuter rail lines.
Dennis DiZoglio, executive director of the Merrimack Valley Planning Commission, said the Haverhill line project would provide double tracking between Andover and Wilmington, eliminating the bottlenecks that occur when Amtrak's Downeaster trains get caught behind commuter rail or freight trains on the single track.
The Merrimack Valley MPO, meanwhile, was set to vote yesterday on a plan to award federal stimulus funds for transportation projects in its 15-community region.
The funding proposals included $4 million to expand a park-and-ride lot on Interstate 95 in Newburyport, according to DiZoglio.
In all, the state's 10 MPOs will be awarding $437 million from the stimulus bill for highway projects and $300 million for mass transit projects, according to Adam Hurtubise, spokesman for the Executive Office of Transportation.
Projects being funded now must be ready to be advertised within 120 days. A second round will be held to award the remaining money. The state also may be allotted additional federal funds to distribute if all the funds available nationally are not spent.
Other stimulus funds in areas ranging from housing to education will be sent to the state and in some cases directly to communities through existing formulas and competitive grant programs.
Among the earmarks in the omnibus budget bill before Congress are $783,750 for train station improvements in Salem and Beverly, secured by US Representative John F. Tierney of Salem.
There is also $601,000 for the dredging of the entrance to Newburyport Harbor, $95,000 of which could be used to dredge the south jetty area, according to Tierney, who secured the earmark with US Senators Edward M. Kennedy and John F. Kerry.
Tierney said the bill directs the Army Corps of Engineers to study the potential of using dredged sand from 13 projects, including the one at Newburyport Harbor, to replenish beaches. It also lists 65 flood control projects it would like the corps to undertake, including the North River in Peabody and the Blackwater River in Salisbury.
Other Tierney earmarks include $476,000 to enable the Forsyth Institute in Lynn to expand its efforts to provide dental care to low-income people and $237,500 for the Girls Inc. of Lynn's building project.
US Representative Edward J. Markey teamed with Kennedy and Kerry to secure a $950,000 earmark for improvements to the MBTA's Wonderland Station in Revere.
Other Markey earmarks include $261,250 for streetscape improvements and $500,000 for a lead pipe replacement program, both in Malden.
Another earmark, secured by US Representative Michael Capuano, would provide $855,000 for a parking garage in Chelsea that would be linked to bus and commuter rail lines.
US Representative Niki Tsongas was able to get a $475,000 earmark to help fund a new Merrimack Valley Regional Transit Authority garage in Haverhill; $200,000 to fund an upgrade of Haverhill's public safety communications system; and $237,875 for a project to make the Haverhill Citizens Center more energy-efficient.
Kerry and Kennedy also teamed to include $285,000 for downtown streetscape improvements in Haverhill in the bill.
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