WORK PROGRAM
wellington circle study
SePTEMBER 17, 2020
The Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) votes to approve this work program.
Principal: Marty Milkovits
Manager: Sanjay Kaul
MassDOT Casino Mitigation Funds
Schedule and budget details are shown in Exhibits 1 and 2, respectively.
This study is supported in full with non-MPO funding. Committing MPO staff to this project will not impinge on the quality or timeliness of MPO-funded work.
The Wellington Circle Study work program will support MassDOT’s conceptual planning study that will evaluate the existing and future multimodal transportation conditions at Wellington Circle in the City of Medford, and develop and analyze alternatives intended to improve transportation conditions. This complex multimodal transportation area—at the crossroads of several state highways, close to several walking and bike trails, and near the MBTA’s Wellington transit station, which is a junction for several bus routes—deserves a thoughtful reassessment of its transportation operations.
This study evolved from local and regional planning processes, stemming from the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) permitting process for the Encore Casino, the Lower Mystic Regional Planning Study, and the Boston Region MPO’s Long-Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) Needs Assessment.
The study will focus on the redesign of Wellington Circle in order to provide better connectivity and improve multimodal mobility throughout the area for the City of Medford and other surrounding communities in the region. The study will examine and evaluate proposed alternatives to the extent possible in the context of vehicular traffic, transit operations, bicycle and pedestrian use, and cost, as well as resulting economic, social, and cultural impacts.
The transportation alternatives will be evaluated relative to criteria that relate to the study goals and objectives derived from a public process that involves multiple stakeholders and a working group. MassDOT’s study will incorporate the results of the work the Central Transportation Planning Staff (CTPS) conducts as part of this work program in a final report that includes the analytical findings and technical documents; preliminary cost estimates; recommendations; and other relevant details.
The local study area for the traffic analysis is assumed to include Route 16 from the Interstate 93 interchange on the west to the interchange of Revere Beach Parkway and Rivers Edge Drive (which provides access to Wellington Station) on the east, and Route 28 (the Fellsway) from the I-93 interchange on the south to Riverside Avenue on the north.
The local study area for transit, based on the bus routes, is assumed to include the area bounded by Central Avenue (Medford) and Medford Street (Malden) to the north, the Malden River and the rotary with Route 99 (Everett) on the east, the Mystic River on the south, and Park Street on the west. The study includes Wellington Station.
The regional study area encompasses an area approximately bound by the Mystic Avenue corridor on the west, the intersection of the Fellsway and Pleasant Street (Malden) on the north, the Northern Strand Community Trail and the Broadway corridor on the east, and Sullivan Square (Route 99/I-93) on the south. The boundaries of the regional study area shall coincide with transportation analysis zone (TAZ) boundaries in the CTPS transportation model. The municipalities included in the regional study area are Medford, Malden, Everett, and Somerville.
The objectives of this work program will be to provide analytical and project coordination support to MassDOT’s project team within the limits of this work program and the consultants’ scope of work. The analytical support will include utilizing the travel demand model to produce forecasts of multimodal travel flows in the regional study area for existing conditions, a future 2040 no-build scenario, and as many as three build alternatives.
CTPS will work in partnership with MassDOT and its consultants on all the tasks described in this scope of work. CTPS will take the lead on the transportation modeling and analysis aspects of this scope and support MassDOT and its project team by providing data and analysis.
CTPS will work with MassDOT and its consultants to help develop travel demand forecasts and respond to questions related to the tasks described below.
The travel demand model has been calibrated at the statewide level and must be reviewed, recalibrated, and potentially refined to best reflect the specific conditions within the corridor being studied to ensure reasonable sensitivity in the model to the proposed alternatives. This effort would include the following activities:
CTPS will conduct this work and validate the corridor to the total daily demand (transit and vehicular), vehicle speeds, and travel times. CTPS will utilize the most current highway count data sets made available by MassDOT and its consultant team to develop matching approach volumes that will be processed and balanced. CTPS will not be calibrating the model to turning movements at the intersections or to local nonmotorized activity. The calibrated model will then be applied to develop baseline estimates of travel in the study corridor.
Using the calibrated 2018 base-year model developed in Task 2 and applying it to the horizon year 2040, CTPS will model a future year no-build scenario for 2040. The land use scenario for this alternative will be based on the land use assumptions developed for the Boston Region MPO’s recently adopted LRTP, Destination 2040, with the addition of the latest land use assumptions identified by MassDOT and its consultants. The 2040 scenario will be based on the same infrastructure assumptions as the LRTP. Henceforth, this scenario is referred to as the 2040 No-Build.
MassDOT’s consultant team plans to identify additional assumptions for future year infrastructure and development, and examine possible increases to residences and jobs. The intention is to develop a more intensive development scenario to be used for a sensitivity analysis for the three build alternatives. For this effort, the two possible scenarios MassDOT’s consultants plan to examine are as follows:
Each land use scenario would produce variations on travel demand and the key metrics of the infrastructure alternatives. CTPS will provide its expertise to guide the development of the variations on travel demand for each land use scenario.
The following summaries will be prepared for the 2040 No-Build scenario:
Pivoting off of the 2040 No-Build scenario as discussed in Task 3, CTPS will model as many as three build alternatives and summarize the effects on travel patterns and modal choices. The project team will supply CTPS with the network specifications and transit service plans for the three scenarios.
As in Task 3, CTPS will provide its expertise to study the impacts of the intensive development scenario on travel demand estimation and coordinate with the consultants on the sensitivity analysis of the three build alternatives. This effort will involve post-model processing.
The following summaries will be prepared for each of the three alternatives:
CTPS will perform air quality analyses consistent with the work completed for the Boston Region MPO’s LRTP, Destination 2040. The air quality analysis on highway assignment outputs will compare the build alternatives with the 2040 No-Build scenario and report emissions by region for several key pollutants using the latest version of the US Environmental Protection Agency’s MOVES emissions modeling software.
Tabular summaries of the results of air quality analyses by community
CTPS will perform environmental justice analyses consistent with work completed for the Boston Region MPO’s LRTP, Destination 2040. The environmental justice analyses will compare the build alternatives with the 2040 No-Build scenario and report the differences between the 2040 No-Build scenario and the build alternatives by population group (minority and non-minority) in addition to income groups (low income and non-low-income).
Tabular summaries of the results of environmental justice analyses by population and income groups
CTPS staff will document the methodology developed to support MassDOT’s study and the results of the analysis.
Documentation describing the methodology and results
The Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) operates its programs, services, and activities in compliance with federal nondiscrimination laws including Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI), the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987, and related statutes and regulations. Title VI prohibits discrimination in federally assisted programs and requires that no person in the United States of America shall, on the grounds of race, color, or national origin (including limited English proficiency), be excluded from participation in, denied the benefits of, or be otherwise subjected to discrimination under any program or activity that receives federal assistance. Related federal nondiscrimination laws administered by the Federal Highway Administration, Federal Transit Administration, or both, prohibit discrimination on the basis of age, sex, and disability. The Boston Region MPO considers these protected populations in its Title VI Programs, consistent with federal interpretation and administration. In addition, the Boston Region MPO provides meaningful access to its programs, services, and activities to individuals with limited English proficiency, in compliance with U.S. Department of Transportation policy and guidance on federal Executive Order 13166. The Boston Region MPO also complies with the Massachusetts Public Accommodation Law, M.G.L. c 272 sections 92a, 98, 98a, which prohibits making any distinction, discrimination, or restriction in admission to, or treatment in a place of public accommodation based on race, color, religious creed, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, disability, or ancestry. Likewise, the Boston Region MPO complies with the Governor's Executive Order 526, section 4, which requires that all programs, activities, and services provided, performed, licensed, chartered, funded, regulated, or contracted for by the state shall be conducted without unlawful discrimination based on race, color, age, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, creed, ancestry, national origin, disability, veteran's status (including Vietnam-era veterans), or background. A complaint form and additional information can be obtained by contacting the MPO or at http://www.bostonmpo.org/mpo_non_discrimination. To request this information in a different language or in an accessible format, please contact Title VI Specialist |
| Task |
Month | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | |
1.
Coordinate with Project Team and Oversee Project |
From Month 1, Week 1 to Month 18, Week 4.
|
|||||||||||||||||
2.
Enhance, Calibrate and Validate 2018 Base Year |
From Month 2, Week 1 to Month 4, Week 4.
Deliverable
A
Delivered by Month 4, Week 4.
|
|||||||||||||||||
3.
Develop and Analyze 2040 No-Build Scenario and Provide Guidance on Development of Alternative Land Use Scenarios |
From Month 5, Week 1 to Month 7, Week 4.
Deliverable
B
Delivered by Month 7, Week 4.
|
|||||||||||||||||
4.
Develop and Analyze Three 2040 Build Alternatives with Feedback on Impacts of the Intensive Development Scenario |
From Month 8, Week 1 to Month 14, Week 2.
Deliverable
C
Delivered by Month 14, Week 2.
|
|||||||||||||||||
5.
Air Quality Analyses |
From Month 14, Week 3 to Month 15, Week 4.
Deliverable
D
Delivered by Month 15, Week 4.
|
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6.
Environmental Justice Analyses |
From Month 16, Week 1 to Month 17, Week 2.
Deliverable
E
Delivered by Month 17, Week 2.
|
|||||||||||||||||
7.
Documentation |
From Month 17, Week 3 to Month 18, Week 4.
Deliverable
F
Delivered by Month 18, Week 4.
|
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| Task |
Person-Weeks | Direct Salary |
Overhead (106%) |
Total Cost |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M-1 | P-5 | P-4 | P-3 | Total | ||||
1.
Coordinate with Project Team and Oversee Project
|
2.0 | 3.0 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 8.0 | $13,931 | $14,767 | $28,697 |
2.
Enhance, Calibrate and Validate 2018 Base Year
|
0.6 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 4.6 | $8,021 | $8,502 | $16,524 |
3.
Develop and Analyze 2040 No-Build Scenario and Provide Guidance on Development of Alternative Land Use Scenarios
|
0.4 | 3.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 4.4 | $8,177 | $8,668 | $16,844 |
4.
Develop and Analyze Three 2040 Build Alternatives with Feedback on Impacts of the Intensive Development Scenario
|
0.5 | 4.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 7.5 | $12,791 | $13,559 | $26,350 |
5.
Air Quality Analyses
|
0.2 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.2 | $2,373 | $2,515 | $4,889 |
6.
Environmental Justice Analyses
|
0.2 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.2 | $2,373 | $2,515 | $4,889 |
7.
Documentation
|
0.2 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 3.2 | $5,035 | $5,337 | $10,371 |
Total
|
4.1 | 15.0 | 7.0 | 4.0 | 30.1 | $52,701 | $55,863 | $108,564 |