DALLAS – The Massachusetts Department of Transportation Board has adopted a five-year, $14.8 billion highway and rail capital project plan that emphasizes upkeep of existing infrastructure over expanded transit service.
The 282-page plan approved Monday by the MassDOT board added $500 million to the $14.3 billion road and transit plan through fiscal 2021 that was outlined to members in March.
The extra $500 million includes an additional $117 million for MBTA bridge projects, bringing the five-year total for bridges to $497 million, two new highway projects and $55.7 million to build a new maintenance facility for Pioneer Valley Transit Authority The additional expenditures also include $22 million for the next phase of an all-electronic road tolling system that will be operational statewide later this year, part of the system's overall cost of $207.3 million.
Improvements that increase reliability of the bus and rail transit systems in the Boston area will account for 59% of the plan's funding, with another 18% dedicated to modernizing the existing network so it can accommodate expected population growth and new safety standards, MassDOT said.
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker said the capital improvement program would boost the dependability of the state's transportation network and increase the efficiency of MBTA's transit operations, known locally as the T.
"These capital dollars will allow for much-needed upgrades at the T, including signals, track and switches, as well as our roads, bridges and other infrastructure," Baker said.
MBTA will get $4 billion over the next five years to repair and rehabilitate the existing transit infrastructure, $1.6 billion for new buses and rail cars, $1.1 billion for the Green Line extension project, and $1 billion for signals and power improvements.
Projects funded by the plan would reduce MBTA's maintenance backlog from the current $7.3 billion to $3.5 billion by 2021, transit officials said.
MBTA's $1.3 billion of outstanding sales tax bonds are rated Aa2 by Moody's Investors Service and AA-plus by S&P Global Ratings.
The five-year capital program includes a total of $476 million for non-interstate highway paving, an increase of 80% from the previous capital plan. Hike and bike trails account for another $221 million.
The capital program also includes $335.4 million for projects to increase capacity on state highways and a total of $1 billion for a city and county road repair and maintenance program known as Chapter 90.
The $200 million per year for local roads in the five-year plan should be considered as a minimum, said state transportation secretary Stephanie Pollack.
She urged lawmakers to develop a matching grant program that would fund more local transportation projects.
"The idea is to provide more funding to cities and towns," Pollack said. "Not as straight Chapter 90 money, but in a structure that encourages them to take better care of their assets."
The transportation plan is not involved in the state's fiscal 2017 budget dispute because it is funded by Massachusetts' state gasoline tax and other dedicated revenue streams, Pollack said.
"Transportation dollars come out of the Commonwealth Transportation Fund, not out of the general fund," she said.
