Boston Council Committee Advances $15.2 Million in Federal Transportation Grants

BOSTON — February 20, 2025 — Boston's transportation committee advances $15.2 million in federal grants to upgrade traffic signals and Blue Bikes infrastructure. Committee Chair Sharon Durkan said she will move both grants at the next full council meeting, calling federal funding acceptance an urgent fiduciary duty given the threat of federal freezes. The larger grant — $14.4 million from the U.S. DOT Safe Streets and Roads for All program — would fund signal upgrades at 50 intersections on Boston's high crash network, with BTD Engineering Director Amy Cording stressing the work covers signaling equipment only, not road construction. A $775,855 MPO Community Connections grant would replace 10 to 12 aging Blue Bikes stations and pilot dock-based e-bike charging at two locations, with a required municipal match of $193,963 drawn from existing budgets. Councilor Edward M. Flynn said he would vote no on the signal grant without a written 30-day commitment to end concurrent pedestrian-vehicle signaling, citing a fatal 2019 crash at Summer and Melcher Streets; Cording said that commitment would not come before the council vote.