Politics & Government
Gaming Commission: Wynn's Everett Casino Proposal 'Suitable' for License
Traffic impact on Sullivan Square would be significant if Wynn proposal gains license.
The prospects of a large casino resort in Everett across the bridge from Charlestown's Sullivan Square took one step closer to becoming reality as the Massachusetts Gaming Commission found Las Vegas-based Wynn Resorts "suitable" to obtain a casino license in eastern Massachusetts today, Friday, Dec. 27.
The commission's decision makes Everett the second project to pass the state's application and review process known as Phase 1; the other is the MGM proposal in Springfield, according to MassLive.com
About 60 percent of the casino’s estimated traffic would come by way of Sullivan Square in Charlestown, said Jeffrey Dirk, a traffic engineer with Vanasse & Associates Inc., at an August meeting of the Charlestown Waterfront Coalition.
He expects the casino to add about 1,300 vehicles to traffic in that area during the peak travel time, after 7 p.m. on a Friday night, and about 1,700 vehicles on a Saturday.
Wynn is vying with a Mohegan Sun-Suffolk Downs project in Revere for the single license set aside for eastern Massachusetts. The Suffolk Downs site suffered a serious setback when East Boston voters rejected in November building a casino on the Boston portion of the famous race track.
A final decision on which proposal will receive the license will take place in May, 2014.
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