Somerville Keeping Tabs On Encore Casino's Impact On City

SOMERVILLE, MA — When Encore Boston Harbor opened its doors to an estimated 50,000 visitors for its first day of business in Everett on June 23, it did so amid some dire predictions of traffic gridlock and a catastrophic parking crunch in surrounding neighborhoods and neighboring cities. While many of those fears have subsided in the relatively uneventful weeks that followed the celebrated debut weekend, Somerville officials are maintaining an eye on the long-term impact of having a $2.6-billion casino in their backyard.

"The city is monitoring the impacts of the new casino resort facility, and will continue to do so over the next year," said Brad Rawson, Somerville's Director of Transportation and Infrastructure. "We have collected baseline data on motor vehicle traffic, MBTA bus reliability, and pedestrian and bicycle safety for the period prior to the opening. These indicators will be monitored for comparison over the coming year."

Somerville Economic Development Director Tom Galligani said that, anecdotally, businesses at Assembly Row have not noticed a change in sales or traffic, but added that it may be too early to tell if that's the case. He added his office has received little feedback — either positive or negative — from local shops about the casino.

"Right now we don't have data on how casino traffic may be impacting Somerville, but it's something the city has been working on for a few years," said Meghann Ackerman, Somerville's Public Information Officer. "The Transportation and Infrastructure division collected data in several locations — including Mystic Ave., Broadway and some side streets — in 2017, 2018 and 2019. They were looking at things like traffic volume, speed, bus-run times and crashes. Now that they have that baseline data, they'll be collecting more information over the next few months and comparing it to see what impact the casino has.”

The casino did some banner business during its first week with $16.8 millionin reported earnings in gaming alone from June 23-20. The Massachusetts Gaming Commission reported that will result in $4.2 in generated taxes. The resort also includes a 671-room hotel.

Some of that revenue is pegged to go back to area cities to help with any infrastructure impact of the casino through a community agreement.

"The city has worked in a regional planning process administered by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation called the Lower Mystic Regional Working Group," Rawson said. "That process included the city of Everett, the city of Boston, the Metropolitan Area Planning Council and the casino resort operator. The two-year planning process identified a number of strategies intended to promote public transit use, provide better options for biking and walking, and ultimately reduce automobile congestion in the areas around Sullivan Square."

While reviews of the casino have been generally positive, it did come under some fire last week when a class-action lawsuit was filed against Encore for cheating blackjack players out of payouts and withholding portions of some slot machine winnings.

Encore denied any wrongdoing in an emailed statement to Patch: "Since opening, Encore Boston Harbor follows the Massachusetts Gaming Commission regulations for blackjack payouts." The casino cited state gambling rules, which mention 6-to-5 payouts — less than the 3-to-2 payouts the lawsuit says are due those who hit blackjack under state guidelines. The lawsuit also charges the casino is rounding down change in slot payouts, adding up to a potential $30 million in annual Encore revenue.