LYNN — The city will receive more than $20 million in Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability & Equity (RAISE) grant funding for significant improvements to the Lynnway, Congressman Seth Moulton, and Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren announced Wednesday.
Moulton, Warren, and Markey helped to secure the funding, which is meant to transform the Lynnway through the creation of a shared pedestrian and bicycle lane, a center-use bus lane, and improved bus stops that include Americans with Disabilities Act accessible platforms, new benches, shelters, and increased meridian greenspace.
The funding will also improve pedestrian crossings with a transit corridor along Route 1A connecting the Central Square–Lynn Commuter Rail station in Lynn to the Wonderland MBTA station in Revere.
Moulton said that the grant funding will help to re-imagine commuter access to Lynn’s waterfront, while also paving the way for safer walking and cycling options on the Lynnway.
“This project will result in nothing less than a transformative reinvention of Lynn’s waterfront. This grant will invest in changes that will establish better walking options for pedestrians, safer ways for bikers to move around the city, and more options for transit passengers,” Moulton said. “Twenty-first century transit is all about connecting and transforming communities — this project will not only connect Lynn’s downtown and its waterfront, it will strengthen connections between Lynn and the rest of the North Shore. I look forward to working with my state and local colleagues on the development of this project.”
Warren said the improvements the grant will fund will turn the Lynnway into an exemplary piece of infrastructure for the Commonwealth, one that will better connect Boston to the North Shore.
“Lynn’s $20 million grant to reinvent and revitalize the Lynnway is a transformative investment that will improve public transportation, create new bike lanes, enhance sidewalks for pedestrian accessibility and safety, and better connect Boston and the North Shore,” Warren said. “I’m proud of the community members in Lynn and the Massachusetts congressional delegation who fought hard to secure this funding — these transit improvements will serve as a model across the Commonwealth.”
Markey said that the project’s shared-use lane facet will help connect Boston and Lynn in a more environmentally friendly fashion.
“The reinvention of the Lynnway is all about bringing communities north of Boston together and keeping them connected geographically and economically. It is a critical step toward environmental and transit justice along Route 1A,” Markey said.
The Lynnway project will also include transit signal priority, which extends green light phases and reduces red light phases for buses, allowing the MBTA to make more bus trips by reducing traffic times. According to the project’s grant application, the bus lanes with transit signal priority could accommodate school buses and emergency response vehicles, allowing them to bypass vehicular congestion.
Mayor Jared Nicholson called the project a “reliable” and “equity-focused” investment in Lynn residents.
“Investing in transportation and equity-focused traveling conditions that are safe and reliable means investing in our residents,” said Nicholson. “We’re grateful for the investment and look forward to a robust public process to get community input so we end up with a design that the city can be excited about.”
In a statement, state Rep. Dan Cahill thanked Moulton for leading the way on the Lynnway investment. He said that given the current public transit problems the area is facing, including the impending closure of the Central Square Commuter Rail station, the funding was well-timed.
“Between the current problems with public transit and the new development on the Lynnway, this investment could not have come at a better time,” Cahill said. “Thank you to Congressman Moulton for securing this funding and for prioritizing improved infrastructure in the city of Lynn.”
Anthony Cammalleri can be reached at [email protected].
