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The MBTA’s move to acquire a 24-acre parcel at Widett Circle “could be a great thing” for the region so long as transit officials use the land as a new railyard hub and aggressively pursue electrifying the system, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said Monday.
Wu voiced cautious optimism about the prospects of a planned commuter rail layover facility MBTA officials want to build on the land, which they can now begin negotiating for purchase following a vote by the agency’s board last week.
But she said she has concerns about some other T rail yard plans, warning that such a facility in Allston could “disrupt the livability and micromobility” as city and state officials weigh a massive infrastructure project involving replacement of an Interstate 90 viaduct.
“From the city side, we believe this could be a great thing if there’s a commitment then to really collect the rail yards there as opposed to right now,” Wu said in an interview on WBUR. She later added, “The ability to then do this right at Widett could open up electrification as quickly as possible, and therefore higher frequency and then better service.”
MBTA officials plan to take property from two private owners but not city parcels, where Boston has its own maintenance yard and what Wu called an “11,000-pound salt pile.”
Wu, who has made MBTA reforms a theme of her campaign and tenure in office, said she is “really excited” to work with Gov.-elect Maura Healey on achieving changes at the agency whose safety failures prompted a federal investigation and reform directives.
Healey has not yet announced who she will tap to lead the MBTA following General Manager Steve Poftak’s planned departure on Jan. 3. In an interview on WCVB’s “On the Record” that aired Sunday, Healey said, “I expect there to be an interim GM for some time, and then there will be a GM.”
“I think she very much sees this as a foundational issue for our economy and for the health of our communities [and] is putting a lot of thought into what in some ways is the next, the most immediate, most critical decision, which is leadership for the MBTA itself and the new general manager,” Wu said. “We cannot be a world-class city and region if the trains are coming every 20 minutes at rush hour.”
