InfrastructureMassachusetts to spend record $1.2 billion on road and bridge projects
This year Massachusetts is on track to spend a record $1.2 billion on state road and bridge projects, more than double what it spent in 2007; the state’s latest project is the repair of a structurally deficient bridge over Lake Lashaway and the reconstruction of a dam spillway near the bridge in the town of East Brookfield; the reconstruction of the bridge comes as part of a broader effort by Governor Deval Patrick to invest record amounts of funding in critical infrastructure repairs; last year, the Governor spent nearly a billion dollars on 400 road and bridge projects across the state; a recent study found that one in nine bridges in Massachusetts was in need of repair
Dam spillway near East Brookfield slated to be rebuilt // Source: flickr.com
This year Massachusetts is on track to spend a record $1.2 billion on state road and bridge projects, more than double what it spent in 2007.
The state’s latest project is the repair of a structurally deficient bridge over Lake Lashaway and the reconstruction of a dam spillway near the bridge in the town of East Brookfield.
The project will cost $365,000 and is being carried out in partnership between the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and the town of East Brookfield. Construction began in 2010 and repairs are expected to be completed by the summer of 2011.
Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray said, “This is an excellent example of collaboration between the state and Town, working together to address a deteriorated dam spillway and deficient bridge. We are putting people to work and rebuilding critical infrastructure in projects large and small across the Commonwealth.”
The reconstruction of the bridge comes as part of a broader effort by Governor Deval Patrick to invest record amounts of funding in critical infrastructure repairs.
Last year, the Governor spent nearly a billion dollars on 400 road and bridge projects across the state. The projects were financed by the Statewide Road and Bridge Program, the American Recovery and Reinvestment act, and the Administration’s Accelerated Bridge Program.
A recently released study found nearly 12 percent of the bridges in the United States were “structurally deficient” and required replacement. The report found 561 structurally deficient bridges out of a total of 5,000 in Massachusetts or roughly one out of nine bridges.
The report, prepared by Transportation for America (TOA), an advocacy organization made up of business, transportation, and environmental organizations, found that 69,000 bridges are in need of major repairs and critical maintenance has often been delayed as states are struggling with budget shortfalls.
In 2008, Massachusetts allocated $3 billion to its Accelerated Bridge Program, but in the last five years the number of bridges deemed structurally deficient only decreased by 1 percent.
Tim Brennan, the executive director of the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, says that repairs are slow and expensive.
“I was staggered myself to learn that out of the $3 billion special fund for bridges that half of that money was for five bridges,” Brennan said.
The state began to invest in bridge infrastructure after a forty year old bridge in Minneapolis collapsed in 2007 killing thirteen people.
The Accelerated Bridge Program is expected to see a sharp increase in demand over the next several years as aging bridges will need critical repairs.
John Walkey, the Massachusetts field organizer for Transportation for America, said, “The Accelerated Bridge Program has been a success so far, but it’s about to get a lot of baby-boomer bridges.”
TOA ranks Massachusetts twenty-fifth nation-wide among states that need bridge repairs.
