Money for bridge approaches kept in bond bill; House approves $18B in transportation outlays; includes $825M for South Coast Rail

Money for bridge approaches kept in bond bill

By Ethan Genter

Posted Mar 6, 2020


$350 million earmarked for infrastructure improvements as part of $18 billion package.

BOSTON — Money to revamp the roads leading to the Cape Cod Canal bridges was kept in an $18 billion transportation bond bill passed by the House Thursday night.

State Rep. Sarah Peake, D-Provincetown, filed an amendment that reinstated $350 million to improve the infrastructure that leads to the Bourne and Sagamore bridges.

The amendment, along with several others involving the Cape, was included in the House version of the bill, which now goes before the Senate.

The bill was filed by Gov. Charlie Baker last summer, with the $350 million allocated for the lead-up work. But the money was cut out somewhere in the committee process, Peake said.

She talked to the state Department of Transportation, which did a study on ways to ease traffic and enhance safety in the area. Department officials asked if she could put the money back in, prompting her amendment.

“It goes without saying that replacing these bridges is critical,” Peake said Friday.

The state study made several recommendations to improve the roads in the area, all of which are contingent on the federal government replacing the two aging bridges.

Among the recommendations are reconstruction of the Bourne Rotary as a highway interchange, an extra Route 6 eastbound travel lane, a three-legged roundabout in Belmont Circle, relocation of Exit 1C on Route 6 and the addition of an on-ramp from the Scenic Highway to Route 25 westbound.

“It sends a very strong signal to the Army Corps and the federal government,” Peake said.

If the amendment makes it through the Senate, that does not mean the state will automatically start working on the project.

Bond bills are like the state’s priority list, authorizing debt for certain items. The state still has to borrow that money. The work prescribed by MassDOT also relies heavily on the replacement of the bridges, which has not been authorized or budgeted for.

Even still, Peake was optimistic that the money would be there if the bill does pass, citing the governor’s previous inclusion of the money.

“I believe this is real money because this has the backing of the Baker-Polito administration,” she said.

Peake’s amendment was the largest, but not the only Cape amendment.

State Rep. Timothy Whelan, R-Brewster, filed an amendment asking for $1 million for sidewalk repairs on Route 6A in Barnstable.

That amendment was included, but his other amendments were not. Those sought no less than $750,000 for a comprehensive bridge safety inspection and survey of the Bass River bridges on Route 6 in Yarmouth and Dennis; $800,000 to improve traffic flow at the intersection off Exit 8 on Route 6; $300,000 for flood mitigation measures on Route 137 in Brewster; $500,000 for a study on expanding parking at the Exit 6 park and ride; $250,000 for crosswalks at the intersection of Route 6A and Route 134 in Dennis; and $700,000 for flood mitigation efforts along Route 6A in Dennis.

State Rep. Dylan Fernandes, D-Woods Hole, also put in for $440,000 to upgrade the rail infrastructure between North Falmouth and Buzzards Bay to be able to accommodate commuter rail service. The bill also proposes $175 million for rail projects, including service from Boston to Cape Cod, Springfield to Worcester and Pittsfield to New York City.

The roughly $18 billion bond bill was approved by the House in a vote of 150-1.




House approves $18B in transportation outlays; includes $825M for South Coast Rail

By Michael P. Norton, Matt Murphy & Chris Lisinski / State House News Service

Posted Mar 6, 2020

‘The responsible and financially prudent thing is what the House is doing,’ said Transportation Committee Co-chairman Rep. William Straus, D-Mattapoisett

BOSTON — A day after voting to raise taxes and fees by as much as $600 million per year, the Massachusetts House on Thursday overwhelmingly approved a roughly $18 billion bill authorizing spending on transportation projects and infrastructure over 10 years.

Before adopting the bill on a 150-1 vote, the House without discussion or debate adopted a $2.4 billion mega-amendment, followed by a second $1.36 billion amendment. Both amendments stemmed from lengthy private talks, with the larger amendment authorizing, among other things, $350 million for improving roadway approaches to the two Cape Cod Canal bridges, which are both in need of either extensive repairs or replacement.

The larger amendment included more than 14 pages, single-spaced, of language earmarking spending to projects all over the state, with those earmarks subject to restrictions on annual state borrowing. The amendment also expanded the size of a rail improvement line item from $80 million to $400 million.

The House bulked up the bill’s bottom line to reflect the projected revenues approved on Wednesday, even though those taxes and fees face an uncertain future in the Senate and Gov. Charlie Baker opposes the House’s planned increases in gas and corporate taxes.

Baker has insisted that the state can afford his own $18 billion bond bill without new taxes, and that the House had left critical needs underfunded with its bill. House leaders reject the governor’s thinking, and say their spending is affordable only due to their passage of new revenues.

“The responsible and financially prudent thing is what the House is doing,” Transportation Committee Co-chairman Rep. William Straus said.

A huge chunk of the underlying bill, $5.6 billion, is for federal highway system projects, with $1.75 billion more carved out for the design, construction and repair of non-federally-aided roadway and bridge projects, and another $1.25 billion for construction, resurfacing, and improvements of bridges and approaches.

A $2.3 billion train system modernization initiative in the bill includes language requiring funds to be spent on implementing improvements tied to the Blue Line extension to Charles/MGH station, and for the design and construction of a commuter rail station at Wonderland Park on the Newburyport and Rockport line in Revere.

Other items in the bill authorize $825 million in spending in connection with expanding commuter rail service to the South Coast, $695 million toward the ongoing Green Line Extension project just north of Boston, and $400 million for South Station commuter rail improvements.

The House bond bill (H 4506) boosts Chapter 90 reimbursements to cities and towns for road repairs to $300 million, exceeding the governor’s bill by $100 million and fulfilling a request that municipal leaders have been making of the Legislature for years.

Straus called Baker’s proposal to expand the use of grant anticipation notes, or borrowing against future federal grants, “dangerous” and one the House has rejected in its bill. The House proposal also excludes Baker’s ask for authorization to borrow against revenues that could come from the Transportation and Climate Initiative, a regional cap-and-trade program for emissions that the governor is still negotiating with other states.

“It’s a program that may have its day, we don’t know. But we can’t rely on it,” Straus said.

Senate Ways and Means Chairman Michael Rodrigues said Thursday he hoped the Senate would take up its version of the House bill before Senate budget debate, which usually occurs the week before Memorial Day weekend.