Development to receive $25 million in federal funds

By Jack Nicas

Standing by the Mystic River, the nation’s top transit officials made a commitment today to fund a new Orange Line train station at Assembly Square. On top of the $15 million contributed by developers Federal Realty, the federal government will contribute $25 million through a new federal transit plan.

James S. Simpson, the Federal Transit Administrator, said two weeks of paper work is the only obstacle left for federal funding. “[Assembly Square] looks really good and we don’t see a reason why it’s not going to get funded or else we wouldn’t be here,” he said.

Mary Peters, the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, said the country’s current transportation program does not work. “It simply takes too long to get projects like [Assembly Square] built, funded and approved,” she said. Under the government’s new Metropolitan Mobility program, Peters said there is just one set of criteria for approval: “Does the project justify the investment of taxpayer dollars?”

“That is great news for people who want to ride the T to and from Somerville,” Peters said.

Bob Walsh, vice president of Federal Realty, the company overseeing Assembly Square development, said they will break ground this fall by demolishing the former Good Time Emporium. IKEA is the first new business scheduled for construction and significant development will already be in place by the time the Orange Line station arrives, he said.

Peters said Assembly Square will soon be a “wonderful new place,” but the key to its development will be “a brand new Orange Line station right where we are standing.”