Council to Accept $4M for N Washington St Bridge

By Seth Daniel

The Boston City Council was presented with a request from Mayor Martin Walsh at its Wednesday meeting, Feb. 24, to vote to accept a $4 million reimbursement from the state for the design of the North Washington Street Bridge.

The state had promised to reimburse the City for its design efforts on the bridge.

At a meeting last year of the Charlestown Preservation’s Design Review Committee, the City unveiled a detailed design for the bridge and met with mixed reviews. The Charlestown Neighborhood Council was also presented with a similar design one year ago.

“The $4 million is a reimbursement from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation for the City’s expenses associated with the design efforts for the North Washington Street Bridge,” said Laura Oggeri from the Mayor’s Office. “There is a Memorandum of Understanding between the City and the state that states the Commonwealth will reimburse the city for 50 percent of the design costs.”

That money recently came in from the state for those costs, and the mayor’s letter to the Council signified as such.

The project is scheduled to be advertised for construction around November, with construction starting in 2017.

The project is estimated to take three years.