Boston Council Committee Advances $37 Million in Infrastructure and Transportation Grants

BOSTON — September 17, 2024 — Boston's planning committee advances seven grants totaling more than $37 million covering transportation, historic preservation, and electric vehicle infrastructure. The Committee on Planning, Development, and Transportation, chaired by Councillor Sharon Durkan, reviewed dockets ranging from a $38,000 Massachusetts Historical Commission survey grant for Orient Heights in East Boston to a $25 million escrow fund for the Sullivan Square and Rutherford Avenue reconstruction and a $1.8 million federal Reconnecting Communities grant to study capping I-90 between Chinatown and the South End for a public park. Vinit Gupta, Director of Policy and Planning at the Streets Cabinet, told the panel Sullivan Square construction would not begin before 2028 and confirmed the city is hiring a full-time planner for the project. On the Chinatown grant, Gupta said, "If you try to walk across from Chinatown into the South End over the turnpike, it's desolate." Durkan said she planned to move all seven dockets to a full council vote the following day.