Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker announced Thursday his administration’s plans to use money from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) to invest in roads, bridges, public transportation, and environmental infrastructure projects.
Baker joined Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, Transportation Secretary and CEO Jamey Tesler, and Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Kathleen Theoharides in a press conference at Rourke Bridge in Lowell, one of the bridges the Baker-Polito Administration has committed to replacing the bridge with the additional resources the BIL will make available.
“The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will deliver billions in funding to the Commonwealth, helping to build on the investments our Administration has made over the past seven years to improve our roads and bridges and make our public transportation system more reliable and resilient,” Baker said. “We are grateful for the efforts of the congressional delegation to secure this funding for Massachusetts and look forward to working with them and our local partners to deliver critical projects across the Commonwealth.”
The Rourke Bridge will cost an estimated $170 million to replace and be part of an anticipated $3 billion bridge program that will be implemented over the next five years using funding from both the BIL and Massachusetts’ Next Generation Bridge Program. The administration released a list of 146 bridge projects representing 181 individual structures that will be part of the program.
Over the next five years, the BIL will bring an estimated $9.5 billion in infrastructure funding to Massachusetts, including $5.4 billion in highway funding, $2.2 billion in MBTA formula funds, and $591 million in Regional Transit Authority (RTA) formula funds. The state will also be eligible to compete for part of an additional $110 billion in discretionary transportation grants.
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) anticipates receiving about $5.4 billion in highway formula funds from the BIL, increasing $1.8 billion over existing formula programs.
With the reauthorized funds, the new funds, and the required state matching funds, MassDOT will be investing more than $6.7 billion in the state’s roads and bridges over the next five years. MassDOT said the funding will support more than 375 highway projects, including the extension of the Ashuwillticook Trail in Adams and North Adams; the reconstruction of East Street (Route 9) in Pittsfield; the rehabilitation of Route 5 in Holyoke and West Springfield; and the installation of protective screening on the Route 2 Bridge in Erving and Gill, among others.
When added to the state’s $1.25 billion Next Generation Bridge program, the BIL funding will allow MassDOT to invest over $3 billion in repairing bridges. More than one-third of the state’s bridges are structurally deficient.
BIL funding will also help the RTA fund operating, and capital needs over the next five years and help the MBTA invest in vehicles, signal upgrades, and station and facility improvements.