WASHINGTON – Today, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Senator Edward J. Markey (D-MA) announced that the Massachusetts congressional delegation has secured $335.4 million in federal funding for Allston’s I-90 multimodal project under the Inflation Reduction Act. The project will replace the Allston Viaduct, which carries the Massachusetts Turnpike (I-90) from the Allston Interchange to the Commonwealth Avenue Bridge and makes transportation infrastructure improvements to nearby roads and the railroad corridor. Additionally, the project will create new and improved access to expanded waterfront parks and open space in an Environmental Justice community. It includes construction of the MBTA’s West Station along the Worcester Commuter Rail Line, a new bicycle and pedestrian bridge, and four acres of new park land.

“Transit justice is a matter of racial justice, economic justice, and public safety, and this critical federal investment will bring us closer to realizing our collective vision for transportation that works for every user,” said Rep. Ayanna Pressley, founding Co-Chair of the Future of Transportation Caucus. “I am proud to have helped secure this federal funding, which will help address the dysfunction of the current lay-out and give us the opportunity to build equitable, accessible, and safe commuting options that Allston Brighton residents and folks across the Massachusetts 7th deserve. I am grateful to our community members and transit justice advocates for their years of organizing that has helped make a more sustainable and equitable future possible.”

“The $335 million we’ve secured for Allston will be transformational to the city and make the kind of changes to peoples’ lives that they can see and feel,” said Senator Elizabeth Warren. “Families in Boston, especially those who are disadvantaged, deserve this funding to connect their communities with public transit and new bike lanes, to open more public spaces for our kids to play outside, and to create thousands of good, new jobs.”

“With this funding for the Allston Multimodal Project, we’re healing the scars of antiquated highway projects that ripped apart Black, brown, and low-income communities. We’re advancing an effort that centers environmental justice communities in Allston and Brighton, better connecting these neighborhoods with each other, with the rest of Greater Boston, and with our Commonwealth as a whole. This monumental project will benefit environmental justice communities in Allston and Brighton, expand public transit access, enhance safety for pedestrians and cyclists and improve travel for people traveling between Boston and places west of the city. I was proud to advocate to Secretary Buttigieg personally on behalf of this project, and I am grateful for the shared advocacy with Senator Warren and our entire congressional delegation,” said Senator Ed Markey.

“This is another major win for Massachusetts. The Allston Multimodal Project is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to improve transportation infrastructure in the Allston community and better connect residents across the state with housing and job opportunities,” said Governor Maura Healey. “We’re grateful for the partnership of the Biden-Harris administration, our Congressional delegation, the City of Boston and other partners to drive progress on this important project.”

“The City of Boston is grateful to our federal delegation and to MassDOT for their support in moving this transformational project forward,” said Boston Mayor Michelle Wu. “The Allston Multimodal Project will improve public transit, expand parkland, reconnect residents to beautiful open space along the Charles River, and create new opportunities for housing and jobs—and bring much-needed fixes for crumbling infrastructure. We will continue to work with the Allston community to refine a design that improves for our City for generations to come.”

This project will:

• Transform the Allston neighborhood of Boston by rebuilding a deficient section of Interstate 90 to open up new land for development, increase access to multimodal transit, and reconnect the neighborhood with open space along the Charles River waterfront;
• Support the city’s efforts to connect communities separated by Interstate 90 and advance environmental justice (EJ) in these neighborhoods;
• Create space for the construction of West Station which would connect commuter rail, bus, shuttles, and bike share opportunities, and greatly enhance transportation access for EJ communities. The station will support four tracks and three platforms for the MBTA commuter rail with opportunities for future rail service to Cambridge, and support for improved West-East rail connections;
• Provide a unique opportunity for equitable economic and workforce development through the creation of 3,800 new construction jobs, and the economic growth it enables is projected to create 12,400 permanent jobs from new residential, institutional, and commercial development with significant opportunity for new affordable housing and civic spaces.

In January 2024, Rep. Pressley joined Senator Warren and their colleagues on a delegation letter of support for the City of Boston’s and Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s (MassDOT) joint application to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods (RCN) grant program. 

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