The Framingham Technology Park, which is home to the expanding biotechnology company Genzyme, may get some transportation infrastructure improvements thanks to a new federal grant for a state planning agency.
The Metropolitan Area Planning Council, which is a Boston-based regional planning organization, has received a $4 million grant from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. Part of MAPC’s grant application included plans to improve transportation access in the MetroWest region, and specifically at the technology park.
The park houses more than 1 million square feet of research and development space owned by Cambridge-based Genzyme and manufacturing space as well as the headquarters of Bose Corp.
MAPC officials met in MetroWest Tuesday morning for the organization’s fall council meeting and discussed the impact of the grant.
“(MetroWest) is a critical part of our coverage region,” executive director Marc Draisen said before Tuesday’s event at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Natick. “All of our regions are interdependent, but this area is particularly unique because it’s both a part of greater Boston and greater Worcester economies.”
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Draisen said he’s “very concerned” about regional transportation issues in MetroWest and hopes the organization’s new funding will help address some regional issues.
Two years ago the MAPC developed a long-term plan entitled “MetroFuture,” that provides a roadmap of MAPC initiatives for the coming years. The program emphasizes “smart growth” or encouraging development where infrastructure already exists.
Part of the key to doing that in the MetroWest area, Draisen said, will be to focus on transit issues. Not only making roadway improvements, but also expanding commuter rail service and access to it, and increasing the reach and efficiency of the bus system run by the MetroWest Regional Transit Authority.
The MWRA announced this week it will be partnering with the MBTA to allow the Charlie Card automatic payment system to be used on the MWRA’s 11 bus routes across MetroWest.
Meanwhile, the $4 million from HUD will go toward a variety of planning initiatives across the 101 communities in the MAPC region, which stretches from downtown Boston out to the MetroWest region and encompasses both the North and South shores. Other initiatives include further studying housing needs for the region and providing additional local support to communities on planning initiatives.
Amy Cotter, director of regional plan implementation for the MAPC, said the Framingham Technology Park is a good example of where the MAPC could lend a helping hand with the new grant money.
“It’s all about meeting the needs to the existing businesses and preparing for new companies to come in,” she said. “Those companies can’t be successful unless they can get employees to their offices.”
MAPC officials hope to work with the companies already in the technology park and town officials to study possible improvements. That could mean possible work on Route 9 and better linking the park to the Massachusetts Turnpike, or it could mean increasing accessibility to public transportation, such as the Framingham commuter rail station, Cotter said.
Either way, MAPC’s support will be welcomed, according to Adam Ploetz, manager of sustainable development programs for the 495/MetroWest Partnership Inc. He has served on a Framingham Technology Park organizing committee, which has been headed by Genzyme with input from Bose. Genzyme is in the midst of a $200-million expansion in the Framingham Technology Park, including building a new manufacturing facility in the area to support the more than 2,000 company employees that already work there.
