$5 Million Awarded to Brimbal Project That Will Go to Citywide Vote

The reconstruction of the Brimbal Avenue interchange - a project that, will in effect, go to a citywide vote in February - received a $5 million state grant on Thursday, announced Beverly Mayor Bill Scanlon and state Housing and Economic Development Secretary Greg Bialecki.

The grant award was part of $79 million awarded to 33 projects statewide and the second time Beverly had applied for the money. The city government received a smaller, $500,000 grant in November 2012 to fund the permitting and design of the project.

The state Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development said the money would go toward widening a section of Brimbal Avenue and building a new connector road between Brimbal Avenue and Sohier Road. The work “will immediately unlock $20 million in private development between the two roads,” state Housing and Economic Development officials said in announcing the grant.

Scanlon, who said on Thursday said that the project “is the result of years of carefully thought out design and engineering work intended to solve safety and traffic problems while fostering economic growth by creating many good jobs,” has long pushed the work.

The relocation of the connector road in largely dependent on a land swap between the state government and CEA Group of Cambridge, which owns land between Brimbal Avenue and Sohier Road between the existing connector road and Northridge Homes. Under the swap, the connector road would move to the south, closer to Northridge Homes, while CEA Group would get land closer to Route 128 where the connector road is located now. That's where it plans to build a 70,000-square-foot shopping plaza that would be anchored by Whole Foods. The grocer announced earlier this fall it signed a lease for the plaza.

In order to allow the plaza to be built on the swapped land, it needed to be rezoned. The rezoning was approved in a 7-2 vote by the City Council in October. Afterward, more than 4,000 residents signed a petition, asking that the rezoning go to a citywide vote. After reconsidering the vote and reaffirming its original vote, the City Council scheduled to citywide vote for Saturday, Feb. 8 at Beverly High School.

“That election will confirm or reject the recent votes by the Beverly Planning Board and the Beverly City Council to rezone the small, currently state-owned parcel being transferred to the developer from IR (Industrial Restricted) to IR Overlay which allows for commercial use by special permit,” Scanlon said in his announcement of the grant award. “ln effect the voters of Beverly will be deciding whether to accept the $5 million grant, which will pay for needed roadway safety improvements while also saving motorists time and encouraging job creation; The people of Beverly will be able to act on this matter by casting their ballots in the privacy of the voting booth.”