May 27, 2016

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation in April released a draft capital investment plan for 2017 through 2021, which would allocate $14.3 billion to improve the reliability of transportation infrastructure, modernize assets and expand capacity.
 
About 60 percent of the funds in the draft plan would be spent to improve system reliability. The plan has a focus on capital maintenance, asset preservation, and the “state of good repair” standard.
 
According to Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack, the plan used a formal evaluation and scoring process to select and prioritize projects. The administration solicited input on the plan through its “capital conversations” public workshop series.
 
The draft plan would provide cities and towns with $200 million per year for the Chapter 90 local road and bridge program. The MMA submitted comments strongly urging the administration to increase funding for Chapter 90 to $300 million per year in the five-year capital plan.
 
The MMA also stressed the importance of MassDOT’s approach of focusing on reliability, adding that maintaining local roads falls under that principle. Prioritizing reliability and maintenance will save taxpayers money in the long-term, because every dollar invested to keep a road properly maintained saves $6 to $10 in avoided repair costs that become necessary to rebuild a road when it fails due to a lack of maintenance.
 
Funding the Chapter 90 program at $300 million per year, with an inflation-based adjustment, would close a portion of the funding gap that municipalities currently face due to inadequate resources, the MMA stated.
 
At a May 10 meeting of the Local Government Advisory Commission, Mount Washington Selectman Jim Lovejoy, chair of the MMA’s Policy Committee on Public Works, Transportation and Public Utilities, stressed the importance of funding Chapter 90 at $300 million annually in order to help cities and towns face the challenge of keeping roads in a state of good repair.
 
Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito responded that the administration understands the importance of Chapter 90 and demonstrated its commitment to local roads with the release of $300 million in Chapter 90 funds for last year’s construction season.
 
The MassDOT capital plan would fund the “complete streets” program at $50 million over five years. At the May LGAC meeting, Lexington Selectman Michelle Ciccolo thanked the administration for including the initiative in the capital investment plan.
 
The complete streets program encourages cities and towns to redesign and modernize streets to accommodate all types of users: pedestrians, cyclists and drivers. So far, more than 200 communities have participated in complete streets training to learn more about the initiative.
 
The plan highlights the Commonwealth’s investment in bridges, including the new municipal small bridge program. Gov. Charlie Baker included a $50 million bond authorization for the program in the transportation bond bill that he filed in January.
 
The small bridge program would provide much-needed funding for the design, construction, preservation, reconstruction and repair of non-federally aided bridges span lengths between 10 and 20 feet. Cities and towns are responsible for maintaining and replacing roughly 1,300 small bridges across the state.
 
For more information about the Capital Investment Plan, visit www.massdot.state.ma.us/informationcenter/capitalinvestmentplan.aspx.

posted by Jeff Bennett