Work begins on MBTA Wonderland Station with $20-million grant

Work can begin on improvements to the Wonderland Station transit facility in Revere, Mass., thanks to an agreement between the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Transit Administration and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said. The project received a $20-million TIGER grant that will revitalize the area surrounding the Wonderland Station and make it safer and easier for visitors using the station to walk or bike to the popular Wonderland beach nearby. "This TIGER project will go a long way to enhance Revere Beach Reservation, a treasured asset, while also creating good local jobs," said Secretary LaHood. "Adding bike and safe pedestrian access to the beach from the transit station makes sense for the millions of summer beachgoers and other visitors to the area." Wonderland Station serves the 26 communities of Boston's North Shore and Revere's historic beachfront. The project includes construction of an upper plaza over the station's rail terminal that provides access to trains, a new busway and a 1,418-space parking garage; a central plaza that connects to an elevated pedestrian bridge; a crossing at Revere Beach Boulevard leading directly to the beach; and an ocean-front park landscaped with native trees and ground cover. Construction is scheduled to begin in late spring and be completed by June 2012. "As with other TIGER and Recovery Act projects across the Commonwealth and the nation, we are creating needed jobs now on projects that will improve our quality of life for generations to come," said FTA Administrator Peter Rogoff. "Modernizing and reconfiguring the Wonderland Station will be a serious boost for the North Shore." In addition to serving those who come from all over the world to visit the historic beach, the Wonderland Station - at the end of the MBTA's Blue Line - also provides residents of Boston's North Shore with direct access to Logan Airport, Boston Harbor, and Government Center.