State Senate, House Agree on Compromise for Road Repair Bill

The Massachusetts House of Representative and Senate agreed Friday to compromise on a one-year, $200 million local road repair bill.

Earlier this month the Senate passed its version of the bill which contained two years' worth of funding rather than the one year proposed by the House. City and town officials had requested a multi-year bill to allow for greater predictability and planning for municipal projects.

The compromise did retain the Senate provisions that included $30 million in funding for mobility assistance vehicles for the elderly and disabled, intercity bus programming and technical assistance for regional transit authorities. The van funding had originally been requested by Governor Baker, but was later removed from the House bill after the Joint Committee on Transportation dropped it from the legislation. The Senate later restored this provision to ensure local agencies maintain capacity to meet the specialized needs of vulnerable residents.

Under the compromised version of the bill, New Bedford will receive $2,111,149 in road repair funding, with other SouthCoast communities such as Dartmouth ($1,194,360), Fairhaven ($552,304), Acushnet ($326,163) and Mattapoisett ($229,161) benefitting as well.

“I am pleased that we have retained the funding to assist our elderly and disabled residents, but am quite disappointed that our counterparts chose to ignore a very reasonable request from our cities and towns to bring a stable planning process to the forefront,” said Senator Montigny. “With today’s agreement, much-needed funding can finally make its way to cities and towns so that they can perform the necessary repairs on our vital infrastructure.”

--Senator Montigny's Office