Road funding bill speeding toward enactment

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By JAMES PENTLAND

Staff Writer

Published: 04-12-2024 5:42 PM

NORTHAMPTON — The Senate on Thursday unanimously approved $375 million in bond authorizations for statewide transportation projects, including $200 million for the state’s Chapter 90 program and, for the second year in a row, $25 million for rural roads.

Every city and town in the commonwealth would receive a share of $200 million in funding to be used for maintenance and construction of roads and bridges distributed according to the Chapter 90 formula.

The $25 million for rural roads will be available only to rural municipalities, according to a release from Sen. Jo Comerford’s office.

“There is an age-old understanding that the Chapter 90 formula, based on population, road miles, and economic activity, has disproportionately shorted western and north central Massachusetts municipalities,” Comerford said in a statement. “I am proud to join rural legislators and municipal leaders to push hard and consistently for formulas based primarily on road mileage.”

Money under the Chapter 90 program is allocated according to a formula comprising road mileage, employment and population. The Department of Transportation will determine how the money is allocated after the governor signs the legislation.

The Massachusetts House last week unanimously approved a similar bill. The $375 million bond bill also provides $175 million for several transportation-related grant programs, including the municipal small bridge program; the complete streets program; a bus transit infrastructure program; and grants for municipalities to purchase electric vehicles and the infrastructure needed to support them.

The legislation now awaits final enactment in each branch of the Legislature before being sent to the governor’s desk for her signature. Last year, Gov. Maura Healey approved the same level of funding for roads and bridges in August. This year, the Legislature completed its work on the transit bills several months sooner.

The Massachusetts Municipal Association notes that base Chapter 90 funding has remained at $200 million annually since fiscal 2012, despite increases in road construction costs that have significantly eroded the program’s purchasing power.

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The MMA reports that its most recent statewide survey shows that cities and towns need $715 million per year in Chapter 90 funding to adequately maintain 30,000 miles of local roads and hundreds of bridges.