By Adam Swift

Work on the Egleston Square Redesign Project, which has been in the works since 2020, could get underway in the 2026 construction season.

The project, with an estimated cost of between $7-$10 million would stretch over two years, according to Boston Transportation Department planner William Moose.

“We finished our 25 percent plans just last month, and we are working on what the next design milestone plan, the 75 percent plan,” Moose said at this week’s Egleston Square Neighborhood Association meeting. “Those are expected in September, if all goes well, and our final plans we would expect late this year or early next year. It’s a little bit soon to put a date on when construction would start, but the project is financed already.

“We have most of the money we need already allocated through the budget, through the city council,” he continued. “I would love for it to be done in the 2026 construction season, and it’s probably going to take two full construction seasons to do all the work entailed in the project.”

Currently, there is $7 million allocated through the city’s capital plan for the project, Moose said.

With the rising costs for construction projects across the board, Moose said the city may need an additional allocation of up to $3 million for the project to fully fund it by the time construction gets underway.

While he could not guarantee the additional funding, Moose said there is a good chance the council would allocate it, since the majority of funding has already been set aside and design plans are well underway.

Moose added that the start date for the project is also dependent on the schedules for other major capital streets projects planned for the city in the near future.

Moose gave a brief overview of the Egleston Square redesign, as well as some of the changes to the plan since he last met with the neighborhood association in 2024.

“The project … runs from the southwest corridor to the west over to Walnut Avenue to the east,” said Moose. “It includes a pretty significant chunk of the Washington Street corridor as it runs through Egleston Square, and then a lot of the neighborhood streets.”

The boundaries of the project were in large part the result of a number of earlier planning initiatives for the area.

“Many of those recommended projects are captured within this,” Moose.

One of the key areas of the project is the Columbus Avenue/Washington Street/Atherton Street intersection.

“We have a big redesign with significant investments in making this intersection a lot safer and simpler,” Moose said. “That is a top priority for us.”

That intersection ranks within the top three percent of high-crash intersections in the city, he added.

In addition, there are also a series of safety improvements planned for Washington Street from Brighton Street/Chilcott Place to Dimock Street.

“That is focused primarily on pedestrian safety with curb extensions where we push the sidewalks out at the corners, and traffic calming on most streets in the form of speed humps,” Moose said.

Many of those speed humps were installed last year, he added.

As part of the project, Moose said the city has also been looking to make a better and safer bicycle and pedestrian connection between the southwest corridor and Franklin Park.

“After a lot of discussion and public meetings, we landed on a design that uses a combination, because no street actually connects directly between them,” Moose said.

That design uses a combination of Atherton Street and School Street to connect the corridor with the park, he said.

Moose also provided an update on the Atherton Street repaving project, which will take place this year.

Once that street is repaved, Moose said speed humps will be added.

“National Grid has finished work on Atherton Street, and the city has scheduled (repaving) for 2025,” Moose said.

The entire street will be repaved, and there will also be improvements to the sidewalks and pedestrian ramps that are not ADA compliant.

“That should all get done this year,” said Moose. “I do not have the exact timeline yet, but if I do get updates, I will share them.”