MBTA board approves 2 land deals worth $100m

STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE

MBTA OVERSEERS  stamped approval Tuesday on a pair of real estate projects together worth more than $100 million to boost the agency’s vehicle maintenance footprint.

The T’s board of directors voted unanimously on a nearly $86 million contract to expand Codman Yard, a Dorchester facility where Red Line vehicles are cleaned, inspected and adjusted, and also voted unanimously to take a $15.4 million, two-acre parcel in Boston that will add to the adjacent Southampton Street bus facility.

Codman Yard is more than 100 years old and was last rebuilt in the 1980s, Deputy Chief of Capital Transformation Desiree Patrice told the board Tuesday. The planned project will replaced outdated infrastructure, upgrade power, drainage and lighting, and add six additional storage tracks to increase vehicle capacity.

Patrice said the additional capacity will help the MBTA prepare for delivery of brand-new Red Line trains, which have started to trickle in already and once complete will give the agency a larger fleet.

“Although located in Dorchester, the work completed at the Codman Yard will benefit the entire Red Line system,” Patrice said. “The Codman improvements are critical to accommodating the new Red Line fleet and creating safer and more frequent service for all of our riders.”

The $85.98 million contract for the project will go to Barletta Heavy Division Inc.

The Boston land approved for taking on Southampton Street will relieve pressure on the existing bus facility, which T Chief Real Estate Officer Richard Henderson is the only location the MBTA can maintain and store its Silver Line fleet and other 60-foot articulated buses. The T plans to add 45 new buses in the fall to replace aging vehicles and increase the bus fleet’s size.