City to Allocate An Extra $600K of CIP to Road Work

NEW BEDFORD — If you've ever driven through New Bedford then you're most likely aware of the road work that needs to be done. On Thursday night, the City acted on a revision of the Capital Infrastructure Plan by Mayor Jon Mitchell, which looks to allocate an extra $600,000 to road work, if passed, doubling the amount from last year.

City Council voted 9-1 to refer Mitchell's revised CIP to the Committee on Finances. The loan order would appropriate $6,305,000 for the capital bond for fiscal year 2018. This revised loan order is increased by about $200,000 from the original order submitted in January of $6,115,000.

Councillor At-Large Naomi Carney was the only councillor in opposition to the revised loan order, arguing that it unfairly increases costs on tax payers in the city and that the city infrastructure as a whole, predominantly the roadways, could better benefit from those funds.

“I'm not in support of this revision. We're increasing the bond, and I don't care if its 15 cents, $15, or $15,000 on the tax payer,” said Carney. “We can postpone some of these projects and look at them at a further date.”