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My personal opinion on this? The charm & draw of the Cape & Islands is that we *aren't* a uber commercialized space - the provincialness is the tourist draw, and we absolutely should not encourage significant density in the island "villages", nor should we want it to become the next Mrytle Beach...

The MBTA awarded it to Barletta, which despite it's issues in Rhode Island vis a vis the RT6/10 contaminated soils issue is generally seen as a reputable (and major) contractor which very much is still in business - the T just awarded them the C branch rebuild project a couple of days ago...

The problem is those developers need a certain return on their investment, especially if they overpaid for their site in the lab boom. A developer who was counting on ~$120/ft² for lab space for their project to pencil can't accept the $30/ft² a moderately priced residential building would...

I appreciate the rarely seen not-a-bright-sunny-summer-day render, although it'd be more informative to see the tower in that light. Also, I think that amount of rooftop solar for a building this size is almost purely performative - at that point they're doing it for the 3 LEED rating points...

The MBTA Board today re-awarded the bulk of the ferry contract to Boston Harbor Cruises, at approximately an 18% cost increase compared to the existing contract. Additionally, there's apparently a new MassDOT water transportation study underway that I haven't heard much about and an effort to...

I'm moderately surprised we haven't discussed this here yet, but the city of Boston has been working on a series of coastal resiliency feasibility studies that aim to address up to 40" of sea level rise. First in the series appears to be focused on Long Wharf, since this is the current low point...

The original contractor Cardi Corporation - absolutely went bankrupt in Dec 2023, but was teetering for at least a year before then - it really was quite reliant on RIDOT, but after losing Washington Bridge repairs (after FHWA objected) and 6/10 to Barletta? No chance. That said, even when Cardi...

There's something off with those to date numbers, unless those are active cars not-in-testing. The T has had 16 MPs of CRRC Red Line cars on property since November 24. Even by NE transits lagging count, 19 MPs were delivered through February. Edit to add: and 20 MPs in 2025 is still a...

The MBTA posted it's meeting slides super early this time around, so here are some highlights from the Bus Lane enforcement presentation, including what the T seems has high priority enforcement/ phase 1 bus lanes and stops. Notably, ticket revenue won't go to the T directly but to the state...

See the difference between the proposed plan as of January 2021; this was Phase 1 (North) of a 2 phase plan. This was on the Spring Warrant but was pulled bc MBTA communities act regulations hadn't been promulgated yet, and no one knew if this would comply. This is what the town actually passed...

I will note that for DCR roadways, it's entire bridge portfolio was transfered to MassDOT back in 2009 - it's why MassDOT is managing the Eliot Bridge renewal and responsible for the Reid Overpass / BU rotary project. I'll also note that DCR transferred parkways to MassDOT at the same time...

The structural engineer for this actually popped up on Reddit several months ago to answer that exact question - but in short it's because the gym and auditorium are both cantilevered and significant open volumes underneath everything else. Evidently those trusses actually act like a bridge and...

It's just not a well situated station for walk-up demand, that's for sure. Notably, Littleton is also really quite suddenly lukewarm on the concept of TOD on the sites surrounding it - despite the existence of an ~2020 Littleton Station Village planning effort and associated studies. This is one...

Is there any movement on its neighbor, Washington Village? That entire project was always meant to be primarily resi and retail, so they don't have a lab slowdown to blame for it not penciling out. As far as I can tell, they built 1 building (the South Standard low rise) and then... Nothing for...

I'll add a couple to a future "something else" pile; even if not for discussion these are some of my book recs! Land is a Big Deal, a more approachable introduction to the principles in Progress and Poverty by Henry George, which in my opinion is an essential work to read on land policy...

Given that Post Office Square was proposed as the easier alternative to the now-unthinkable option of underpinning Park Street with a 3rd layer (basically creating a Red Line sandwich) I don't put a huge amount of stock in the constructability of BERY era engineering - their willingness to brute...

I don't think this has really been publicly discussed yet, but I've recently taken to checking YouTube meeting recordings for interesting pieces of information, where I found updated concepts of Rutherford Ave from Dec 2024. This is probably something like 5-10% concept design, but notable for...

I mean, there's thousands of housing units across Metro Boston in mid rise and other substantial developments that have completed the planning process and have been fully approved for more than a year - they're just not financed. Examples like 24 Pratt, One Mystic, 819 Beacon, 2 Charlesgate...

Sometimes, the MBTA Advisory Board modal committees get a more comprehensive presentation from staff on operations than the MBTA Board, particularly since the Advisory Board sets the topics they want to hear about. Conveniently, despite a paucity of views, most recent meetings have been uploaded...

I realize the ferries are by far the most overlooked aspect of the MBTA, but with the new operator scheduled to transition over between April 1 and July 1, as far as I can tell outside of the RFP, there hasn't actually been an award to a service provider? As Hornblower is bankrupt, I presume...