10-year transportation plan would add $1B for Ch. 90

On Jan. 14, Gov. Deval Patrick unveiled his 10-year, $13 billion plan to repair, improve and expand roads, bridges and public transit throughout the Commonwealth.

For local officials, a key element of the administration’s proposal, called “The Way Forward: A 21st-Century Transportation Plan,” is its endorsement of the MMA’s top priority: additional funding for the Chapter 90 local road and bridge program.

Chapter 90 funding would increase by 50 percent, from $200 million to $300 million, beginning in fiscal 2014, with additional increases each year tied to the Consumer Price Index. Overall, the proposal would provide more than $1 billion in additional funding for local road projects over the coming decade.

The administration’s plan suggests that a portion of the first-year Chapter 90 increase be targeted for a new asset management system at the local level.

• Download spreadsheet showing $200 million vs. $300 million Chapter 90 funding level for each city and town (148K Excel)

Local officials across the state organized and participated in a series of transportation forums over the past year to make the case for increased investment in the state’s transportation infrastructure, an asset that is critical for a strong economy. A broad coalition of state and local leaders and transportation advocacy groups have been calling for a more robust Chapter 90 local road and bridge program as part of a comprehensive statewide transportation improvement plan.

A statewide survey conducted by the MMA and released in December documents that the state’s cities and towns face a $362 million annual shortfall for maintaining local roads and bridges. The report found that communities in Massachusetts would need to spend $562 million every year to rebuild and maintain local roads in a “state of good repair,” but communities spend far less due to inadequate resources.

In terms of funding, the governor’s 10-year plan includes:

• $1.1 billion more for the state’s 15 regional transit authorities

• $1.175 billion for a new bridge repair program modeled after the nearly complete $3 billion “accelerated bridge program” initiated several years ago

• $1.25 billion for a “multi-modal highway program” targeted for hundreds of local and regional projects in order to decrease congestion and improve safety

• $430 million for bicycle and pedestrian projects

• Hundreds of millions for various system, Registry of Motor Vehicles and facility improvements

The plan would stop the practice of borrowing to pay for highway operations, provide debt relief for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Regional transit authorities would receive an additional $40 million per year to expand bus service.

The governor’s transportation plan would require as much as $1 billion a year in additional revenue, though it did not specify its funding streams. Two days later, however, the governor proposed broad income, business and sales tax changes that he said would raise an additional $1.9 billion per year. (See related story.)

At the MMA’s Annual Business Meeting on Jan. 26, members passed a resolution supporting the $100 increase in Chapter 90 and calling for a multi-year bond bill. The members amended the resolution to call for a one-year, stand-alone Chapter 90 bill for fiscal 2014 so that the local road funding would not be delayed by what could be lengthy debates about the broader transportation and tax plans.

The deteriorating condition of the state’s transportation infrastructure has been a concern for a number of years. It was more than five years ago that a special Transportation Finance Commission identified a funding gap of between $15 billion and $19 billion for the maintenance of the state’s transportation system over 20 years.

Gov. Patrick promoted his transportation and budget proposals at the opening session of the MMA’s Annual Meeting and Trade Show on Jan. 25, and Transportation Secretary Richard Davey discussed the transportation plan with local officials during a special forum on Jan. 26.

“We need to figure out Chapter 90 once and for all, so you can plan appropriately,” Davey said at the forum.

• Download a summary of the governor’s plan (717K PDF)
• Download the governor’s full plan (4.3M PDF)
• Link to the governor’s press release