2025-04-10 00:00:00 - Joint Committee on Transportation

SPEAKER1 - Yeah. Good afternoon, and welcome to today's hearing of the10 joint committee on transportation. I'm Jim Arceiro, the house chair of the joint committee on transportation. I'm joined today by my senate cochair, senator Bretman Crichton of Lynn, and we call this meeting to order.
SPEAKER2 - This is
SPEAKER1 - the joint committee on transportation's first hearing of this legislative session. The bill before the committee this afternoon is house 53. It's governor Healy's proposal for the Chapter 90 program. The Chapter 90 program provides annual funding to municipalities for the implementation of capital improvements We're not the 90 on local public ways. Today's hearing will be hybrid and sort of work this way. Testimony will be taken both in person and for the remote participants who have signed up in60 advance. For persons who have not had the opportunity to sign up to testify, an opportunity66 will be provided following those who have already signed up. The committee may recognize elected officials out of turn. Testimony is limited to 3 minutes per person. Following each testimony, senator Creighton and I,
SPEAKER2 - followed by the members of the transportation committee, will82 have the opportunity
SPEAKER1 - to ask questions. The
hearing. Transportation committee staff, and legislative information services are on hand should anyone have any administrative questions during the hybrid portion105 of the hearing. This hearing is accessible to members of the public to view in the general court website by livestream and will be archived so the public may view the hearing at a later date. Now to introduce members of the committee on the house side, we are joined by my vice chair, representative Ted Phillips,
representative Christopher Hendricks, representative James O'Day, representative Jennifer Balinski Armini, representative Ramos, representative Steven Owens, representative Lindsey Sabadosa, and representative Jim Hawkins,
who is not here yet. Okay. Representative I got Linsky. Representative Norman Orrell, and representative John Marcy. Get everybody. Representative Dave Linsky. K. I got that. Now I'm159 gonna turn it over to senator Creighton for the senate.
SPEAKER4 - Thank you, mister chairman.163 It's great
SPEAKER2 - to be back here. Look forward to working with, you and all members
SPEAKER4 - of the committee, this session. I, would like to just introduce the set of members that are here and to my right, our vice chair, Paul Mark.
SPEAKER2 - And with that, mister chairman, I will turn it back to you.
SPEAKER1 - Thank you very much. The first, folks that we have, signed up here is Chrissy Lynch184 from the AFL CIO, and you I believe you have a a panel with, Rich Marley.
SPEAKER5 - Good afternoon.
SPEAKER6 - Good to see you.
SPEAKER2 - More than
SPEAKER1 - once a panel does.
SPEAKER5 - Good afternoon, chair our CRO, chair Crite, and the members of the joint committee on transportation. Thank you for the opportunity to speak before you today in strong support of h 5 3, an act financing long term improvements to municipal roads and bridges. The AFL CIO is proud to represent tens of thousands of members who work at our common wells public transportation system. Both the train and the bus system, and the roads and the bridges. As well as hundreds of thousands of union members and working people who need a reliable public transportation infrastructure to get to work and to get their families where they need to be. Thanks to the historic investments in transportation from239 the fair share amendment, we are seeing a massive turnaround in the reliability of the MBTA that benefits both the people245 who work there and the hundreds of thousands247 of working class people who depend on it to get around. Similarly, roads and bridges allow the Massachusetts economy to work by connecting our communities to each other. Despite the best efforts of our towns and cities over the years and their hardworking municipal employees, decades of deferred maintenance and underinvestment have led to decay in bridges and roads that can't measure up to cold New England winters. Now we270 have dozens of bridges deemed unsafe and roads routinely flooded. We applaud governor Healy for taking action to make real tangible investments in this critical infrastructure to correct a decade of underinvestment. These investments will put union members to work across the Commonwealth, often in their own communities as employees of local departments of public works. The labor movement has the best trained construction workforce in the state, union members
economic stability necessary to stay and305 invest in our local communities. Additionally, this investment into culverts demonstrates that this increased funding won't just improve our municipal infrastructure in the short term, but will be just 1 part of the absolutely vital infrastructure work that needs to be done to ensure that our region is flood resilient as climate change worsens storms and high tides. Thank you all to your for your public service, for your commitment to a public transportation infrastructure that prioritizes the public good, and please do not hesitate to reach out to me or anybody on the staff at any time.
SPEAKER1 - Thank you.
SPEAKER5 - Thank you. I'll give it over to Rich.
SPEAKER7 - Jim Maciaro,341 chairman Frighten, members of the committee. I would like to basically reiterate everything that she said that the president said.
349 SPEAKER8349 -349 But349 for us,
SPEAKER7 - this is a jobs I wanna thank352 the governor for early. I wanna thank you for taking
SPEAKER9 - it up so early.
SPEAKER7 - House members, thank you for the vote yesterday in terms of moving along the the, infrastructure legislation you did yesterday with regards to the
SPEAKER8 - the surtax.
SPEAKER7 - But this is a job that's gonna put hundreds, if not thousands, of construction workers, unity construction workers across the state to work. As president Lynch just referred to, there's a lot of uncertainty right now in the381 public in the construction market. For those of you who didn't see it, apparently,385 they voted to just, support president Trump and senate's version of the of the federal budget going forward. So I'm not sure what that's gonna mean going forward. The tariffs that come on and off, what's that gonna mean? This is an opportunity for you to vote on something that's gonna put people to work together now. Capacity, as president Lynch referred to, is out there, not just for union members, but also also for our companies. This is crucial, to412 getting the state together, in better shape, but also getting climate for the upcoming year season. Or I know this is a 3 year bill, which is up has created some stability. So thank you for holding this hearing early. Hopefully, we can move this bill and get this to the governor's desk so we can, get people to work while the season is just starting.
SPEAKER1 - Thank you. Is there any questions from members of the committee for the panel? Seeing none, thank you very much. Thank you, president Lin. K. We have a panel from the Mass Municipal Association.
469 SPEAKER10469 -469 Good469 afternoon. Good afternoon. Thank you for having us. Sure. Chair Ocicero, chair Crichton, distinguished members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to speak before you today and for kicking off an early hearing on this incredibly important bill. For the record, my name is Adam Chapdelaine, and I serve as executive director of the Massachusetts Municipal Association. I'm really pleased that you'll hear directly from many municipal officials today who know this issue best. And we know that you all hear about chapter 90 from your districts, from your local officials. And we know you can appreciate how how important this program is in supporting essential local government services. And that's why we're here today on behalf of all 351 cities and towns to offer our strong support for the governor's transportation bill, house 53, enact financing long term improvements to municipal roads521 and bridges. The proposal would authorize a 50% increase to the typical annual authorization for the chapter 90 program. Additionally, the bill authorizes531 this investment for a period of 5 years while adapting the distribution formula for increased funding to better reflect needs around regional equity. And this bill also provides support for state level transportation initiatives, including $200,000,000 for a culvert and small bridge program. House 53 promises to deliver an historic and equitable investment in the Commonwealth's premier road and bridge program. It addresses overdue bridge and culvert needs, and most importantly, targets these investments at a critical moment in history, ensuring that communities have the support they need through the constant uncertainty of572 federal policy actions. We're incredibly grateful to governor Healy and the teams at MassDOT and A and F for their deep exploration of state transportation needs through583 2 key stakeholder initiatives. It was the recommendation of these 2 groups, the Transportation Funding Task Force and the chapter 90 working group that informed the bill that's before you all today. I also wanna thank this committee and the legislature as a whole for recent years recognizing the needs of our communities in utilizing supplemental surtax funding to amplify the successful program. In the more than 50 years since its inception, the chapter 90 program has established itself as the essential funding support funding source to support cities and towns as they618 maintain 30,000 miles of roads and bridges under municipal control. With tightly kept property taxes and limited ability to626 raise local revenues, communities simply do not have the resources to independently bring all their roads into a state632 of good repair and keep them there.634 Our most recent biennial chapter 90 survey estimates that638 at least $859,000,000 is needed in f y 25 alone to maintain local roadways. Further, as federal policy changes continue to provide volatile consequences, amplifying state programs with proven success is a wise action to stabilize the Commonwealth's transportation system. This is why house 53 is so critical. The bill before you uplifts all communities while targeting regional equity by strategically leveraging 2 distribution methodologies. The bill also proposes a 5670 year authorization, offering certainty672 to cities and towns to help them better plan and program this funding. And lastly, the governor's bill makes a necessary investment in municipally owned small bridges and culverts, which will protect public safety, improve climate resiliency, and restore ecosystem connectivity. We're deeply grateful for this proposal and691 encourage the legislature's support for these initiatives and this bill. Now695 I'll pass the floor to our panelists who will,697 in their own words, describe how this699 bill would impact their communities for the better. Thank you.
SPEAKER11 - Thank you, Adam. Thank you, chair Arceiro. Thank you, chair Creighton, and members of the committee. I appreciate the opportunity to testify and your continued support for small towns like Carlisle. My name is Ryan McClain,717 town administrator for Carlisle and719 vice president of the Small Town Administrators of Massachusetts, representing a 92 of the Commonwealth's 351. This year, STAN members ranked infrastructure investment as730 our second highest legislative priority just732 behind rural school funding, which I'm sure you hear nothing about. These investments deliver the highest return on taxpayer dollars, even more than local aid or grants. Small towns743 provide the same services as large communities, but with less staff, fewer resources, and minimal commercial tax revenue. In Carlisle, 98 Percent of every dollar753 spent comes directly from residents, making infrastructure decisions especially difficult. Towns with protected or untaxable land face even steeper challenges, often forced to choose between maintaining roads and funding schools. Thanks768 to your recent chapter 90 supplemental funding, Carlisle doubled its road maintenance, completing major work on church, school, and curved streets, and emergency culvert repair on Westwood Street. This brought your residents safely to our schools, our Cranberry Bog, and opened our only numbered route. It also made us much more climate resilient. Without your help, only 1 of those projects would have been possible. Governor Healy's house 53 proposal matches your recent investments and would increase Carlisle's chapter 90 funding by 44%. The 100,000,000 formula shift to road mileage better supports small towns as does the proposal's multiyear commitment, which aligns with published 5 year infrastructure plans and limits procurement and construction costs.812 Carlisle's infrastructure plan sites 59 miles of roads and a 57 culverts needing mason maintenance, 12 of which are critically failing. Just to catch up with deferred maintenance, Carlisle faces a backlog of $9,000,000 for paving and $3,000,000 for culverts or 1 third of our annual operating budget, the same budget as the high school. Funding this plan would require an additional $600 in taxes per home per year for the next 30 years without support like House 53. With your approval of increased aid, Carlisle has committed to 1 major culvert repair per year and twice as much annual paving. To show you how dire our small town needs are, this additional repair would allow us to brag heartily to our neighbors about our c plus level roads. Thank you again for your time and consideration. I urge you to give house 53 a favorable report and pass it swiftly so small towns can put these critical funds to work this construction season and beyond. Thank you.
SPEAKER1 - I wanted to acknowledge representative Jim Hawkins who has joined us.877 Thank you very much. Representative, questions from the committee. Senator Creighton.
SPEAKER4 - Is your testimony complete?
SPEAKER1 - Her It is.
SPEAKER4 - Okay. Sorry. Thank you so much, Adam, to you or or the panel. You know, last year, we had to create the legislature passed and authorized a separate line item for 25,000,000, based on road mileage with the ideas around mutual equity and making sure that, you know, small899 towns and rural parts of the state have901 additional funding. I guess, how does this approach that the governor's taking, differ from that or build off it?907 And is it just, you know, a sense overall that more funding is needed to address, the backlog of infrastructure problems
SPEAKER1 - out there?
SPEAKER10 - I I would say, perhaps yes to both. I think it I think this 200, 1 hundred million dollar builds off that approach from last year where the existing 200 would be based on the existing formula, but the additional hundred would be based on the road miles formula, which would enhance regional equity, which would build off that $25,000,000 investment you mentioned. But I also think collectively, all of this underscores the immense local need to put these dollars to work for local roads and bridges.
SPEAKER4 - Absolutely. Thank you. When we had a
SPEAKER11 - public hearing about our road maintenance and we laid out the plan, a lot of residents came in and said, when's my road gonna be on the plan?951 When are you gonna pave? The funding953 that's been approved, which thank you for that funding, we were able to say we might get this funding. This funding might come and we might be able to do your roads. With this type of investment, a multi year, 5 year investment with certain963 numbers, we can publish a plan. And people aren't gonna be thrilled that their road is 2 or 3 years down the road, but they'll know where it is. And that'll make them feel more confident about their government. Thank you.
SPEAKER6 - Echo what, both these gentlemen had said to really thank thank you, and your leadership as the last year's committee, but really this committee as a whole last session in that bill, to not just create it, last 2 years ago, but also that reauthorize that. We know that especially the program was very successful and very, well received. And I think it echoes, as these 2 gentlemen mentioned, the overall demonstrated need out there and how we're just trying to especially help communities that, have have really felt that they still don't have, far far enough to to meet them.
SPEAKER4 - Just 1 additional quick question. You mentioned, culverts there, you know, for a long time, I think we think of chapter 90, we think sidewalks, roads, streets, bridges, this past year, you know, working in the transportation funding task force, the governor's seat. Culverts brought up quite quite a bit. Could you just briefly just explain? I think I think it does need greater awareness out there exactly what culverts are and and and why they are under such great stress, in the current climate. No pun intended.
SPEAKER12 - Wants this
SPEAKER10 - so bad. Yeah. I'm gonna let him answer that.
SPEAKER11 - So yeah. My son says I talk about culverts too much. So the,1038 I'm gonna say briefly. Westford Street Culvert that we that I referenced in my testimony. So when that went, the road started to sink. We had to call1046 DPW workers in overnight to make sure that steel plates were in place so that people1050 could get to school, and it was our only numbered route in town. That project's gonna end up costing us about $700,000. Even with this historic investment in chapter 90, our annual allotment of chapter 90 is 450,000, and we have 12 of these things. So the the ability1064 to keep our roads open and safe1066 and allow people to get to school and to to1068 businesses in our surrounding neighborhoods is is1070 vital on these culverts. And we don't have the funds yet. We have a1074 plan, and if this type of investment would allow us to execute that plan.
SPEAKER4 - Thank you. I I should mention, senator Brown's burger is here. And with that, I, part of the committee, but unfortunately, we don't have a seat at the moment. Thank you for for joining us.
Thank you, mister chairman, for allowing me to
SPEAKER1 - talk to you. Mister chairman. Any additional questions for the panel from the members of committee? Seeing none, thank you for1095 your testimony.
SPEAKER7 - Thanks, Erdem.
SPEAKER1 - Absolutely. Moving on to I have1099 Michael Collins, Jay Green, and David Deroshers from1103 the chapter 90 advisory committee.
You have 2 folks who are remote. Right? Remote. Okay.
SPEAKER6 - I don't know who does.
SPEAKER13 - I don't know how that works in terms of how they talk.
SPEAKER2 - Why don't
1122 SPEAKER11122 -1122 you1122 hit it off? Sure.
SPEAKER14 - Bill, you go go first, Bill. And then, Dave, you can come after me.
SPEAKER1 - I think he's got
SPEAKER6 - it. Yeah.
SPEAKER1 - I know. That is true.
SPEAKER12 - I know.
SPEAKER2 - My name
SPEAKER6 - is Mike Collins.1133
SPEAKER13 - I'm a submission of public works
SPEAKER2 - for the
SPEAKER13 - city of Beverly in Massachusetts. And, as part of the chapter 90 working group over the last 18 months, where a group of 17 communities in the MassDOT worked together under the governor's office to declare, to work on the reforms to the chapter 90 program. And it was it was it was a very valuable process that we could1155 all,
work together. And it was interesting to see how that we all shared the same1161 common problems across the state. Didn't matter, the size of the community. The bottom line is lack of funding and lack of certainty in the program. And with this, which house 53 aims to correct by bringing an increase of 50%, which is historic for us, and certainty of the program of 5 year increment, which allows not only the cities and towns to plan over the long haul, but also to have our contractors to be able to so they can hire their workforce, so they can invest in the right equipment, and even to the asphalt plants that need to invest in their equipment. So we are well supported throughout that. In the city of Beverly, chapter 90 used to represent a small portion of our paving program. We used to supplement that. Our our normal allotment would be just over a million dollars. We would supplement that with between 2 and a half to 3 million dollars annually to try to fill out our program. Even at that level, our overall rating, our pavement condition index went from a 70 ish to just a high fifties in the last 10 years because the road network has, such a great need. In the as we all face the headwinds of the uncertain economic times going forward, I can tell you that the city of Beverly is not funding at all the the paving and sidewalk program in the upcoming budget year. So our only funding source going forward would be chapter 90 program. So this is a critical step for us, and we really appreciate the support in here. I'd like to turn it over to my fellow panel members.
SPEAKER14 - Dear chairs, Arceo Crichton and distinguished members of the joint committee on transportation, thank you for the time today. I'm pleased, to come in front of you. I'm writing in support of H 53, enact financing long term improvements to municipal roads and bridges. As you may know, the portion of the bill addressing the chapter 90 distribution formula and its funding was informed by the work of an advisory group made up of local government leaders and public works professionals from across the Commonwealth. Communities of all sizes were represented and worked together to provide solutions to improve a critical source of infrastructure funding for all 3 51 cities and towns. As a member of the advisory group, I am pleased to share with the committee that it is satisfying to see recommendations generated by local government leaders be incorporated into legislation that will make a positive difference for all of our communities from the Berkshires to the Capen Islands. How often are we able to find consensus among local government leaders on a solution that benefits not only Boston, but also Gosnold? The advisory group was able to achieve consensus by compromise and work through the lens that any changes to chapter 90 should avoid negatively impacting communities. The advisory group's recommendations we believe do achieve these goals. Age 53 includes provisions to ensure that the existing amount of funding 200,000,000 be apportioned using the traditional distribution formula with the proposed 100,000,000 increase based on road mileage data alone. This is an important provision as it acknowledges that while population and workforce may be elastic, our road miles are not, and the cost of maintaining them increases annually. This dual formula distribution system addresses community equity by assisting municipalities that do not normally rank high using the traditional formula that is large number of miles with small population and often a bedroom community. These are rural communities with limited ability to generate revenues to augment chapter 90 funds for their road maintenance. For example, in my previous communities, such as Adams, with limited levy capacity and capital funds, we had to rely on competitive grant sources to augment our approximately 275,000 annual chapter 90 distribution and bank our funds until we had enough to complete impactful project. This results in deferred maintenance and continued deterioration of that town's 55 mile road system. Conversely, in my current community, Linux, we have the benefit of robust capital funds, but we still must augment chapter 90 funds with other capital funds to execute road projects. For example, in recent years, Linux has received about 3 quarters of a million excuse me, quarter of a million with annual local appropriation of another half a road work. If age 53 were to pass, Lennox would receive an increase of $170,000 for a proposed total of $4.55 or 2 point 2 million over a course of 5 years. This is a similar financial impact for towns the size of Adams and Lex. Looking at the benefit regionally, Berkshire County, Senator Mark's district, would see a 5,300,000.0 increase in chapter 90 funding. That's how impactful this can be for our our communities. Thank you so much for the time that you've given us today. I'm proud to represent, not only Berkshires but also local managers. Thank you for your time. Senator Mark, thank you for all that you do as well1446 as the rest of the members of the community.
SPEAKER8 - I guess I'll take over from, last member of the panel. I'm Dave de Rozier from the town of Granby, Mass. Just wanted to thank the governor, the administration, MassDOT, and all the legislature for, allowing us to put forward that proposal. I think it's a great proposal, as others have already spoken on. It, the group came to a consensus on, a proposal that benefits everyone. We try not to pick any winners and losers.
Having said that, I just hope that you follow through and and pass that bill. It's a great bill, but I wanted to touch base a little bit differently1491 than the other speakers why we need the extra money. And, in our town, we have1497 about 60 miles of road. We've seen asphalt prices from early in the February. Were about $27 a ton in place. The current price is a hundred dollars a ton. Massive increases over the same time period, chapter 90 funding has remained relatively flat at around $200,000,000 That has caused us to see significant declines in our payment conditions. Only recently did we start to see an improvement with the additional money. The last couple of administrations gave us a little extra of winter road money. The the the governor with the fair share program and the rural roads program has also helped out immensely. We were finally starting to see our our pavement start to improve a little bit, but the storm clouds clouds are on the horizon. We're seeing a big spike in asphalt prices. And unless we see additional funds coming in, I I foresee us going through the same deterioration in the pavements long term. It takes about a 5 year run. You can cut our budgets for a couple of years, but when you do it for more than 5 or 6 years in a row, the pavements, the whole network system starts to decline, and I hope that doesn't happen to Mike Collins and Beverly, but, we've been through it in Granby. We saw it in the early 2 thousands, '2 thousand and '5, and we're just starting to recover from that now. It takes a long time,
to to recover and rebuild your roads after you let them fall apart. So please, endorse the bill. I endorse the bill 100%, and, please pass it. Thank you. If you have any questions,1603 I'd like
SPEAKER1 - Thank you very1605 much for give
SPEAKER8 - you some more background data on any of the stuff that I have.
SPEAKER1 - Got it. Thank you. Any additional questions from members of the committee for the1613 panel? Representative Sabadoso.
SPEAKER15 - Thank you. I I just have a quick question, and excuse my lack of knowledge, but where does asphalt come from, and why is it so expensive? Are we importing it from somewhere?
SPEAKER8 - I can take that 1 if you like. Asphalt is, an oil based product. The cost of oil is the the biggest factor, but there's aggregate, different stones and sand that's it's a blend of of materials,
and asphalt is the cementitious product that holds it all together.
It's, that's just been the increase in cost and labor increases over those last 25 years. We've seen our cost increase in many other areas as well, like pavement lines. In the last 4 years, our cost have doubled per linear foot of line painting. When you hold our budgets to 0% increases, or even 3% increases, it's essentially cutting our ability to purchase product or materials by 23% if if we're seeing 20% increases every year.
SPEAKER15 - Thank you. I appreciate the the, nuance.
SPEAKER1 - Any additional questions from members of the committee for the panel? Seeing none. Thank you very much.
Brian Kane from the MBTA advisory board. Brian?
SPEAKER16 - I got the TV recording last night. That's all. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. And thank you, to both chairs for the opportunity to testify before the joint committee today. It's first such hearing this session. Congratulations, to the house chair and the house vice chair and all the members who are, appointed for the first time or reappointed to this important committee. As stated, my name is Brian Kane. I have the distinct honor to serve as the executive director of the MBTA advisory board. The advisory board is created and authorized by chapter 1 61 a of the general laws. And our organization is somewhat unique and that it is a public body that works neither for the administration nor the MBTA nor the general court. Myself and my 2 colleagues work for the 78 cities and towns across the Eastern Half Of Massachusetts ranging from the Cape Cod Canal to Wachusett Mountain, to Salisbury, on the New Hampshire board to Sutton And Worcester County, and from Worcester to Winthrop, and almost every community in between. The population of these cities equals about 78% of the Commonwealth's population. It includes 19 of the 20 largest cities in Massachusetts. Last year, along with Senator Creighton and and a few others in the room, shout out to undersecretary Hayes, Hayes Morrison. We I have the honor to serve in the governor's transportation funding task force. We heard a lot about culverts as has been mentioned already. And we also heard a lot about the need for increased chapter 90 funding for things like bridges, culverts, sidewalks, and other infrastructure. Based on my service both on that task force as well as my day job where I hear from select board members, mayors, DPW commissioners, planners, and host of other municipal leaders on a daily basis. It is really clear that there is a need for increased chapter 90 funding. But also a lot of gratitude for the innovations championed by this committee. For the innovations championed by the legislature in the last couple of years that have been referenced, around additional funding for local bridges and local culverts especially. And we urge you to continue these innovations that provide both targeted and additional funding for cities and towns. MBTA buses operate on municipally owned and operated streets. And many of those who take either the rapid transit system or commuter rail, drive on chapter 90 eligible roads to get to T stations. The symbiotic relationship between the tea and the cities and towns makes it essential that they each have the funding necessary to do their complete their missions well. I wanna thank the house members, especially of this committee, for their votes yesterday to support the supplemental budget that will bring millions hundreds of millions of much needed money to the MBTA. The MBTA advisory board and its 78 communities, we urge our we urge you folks in the senate to follow suit quickly. And for us to urge this committee to continue to lead both on chapter 90 and on the need and on presenting the need for MBTA funding to both bodies and to the legislature as a whole. The activities of the great citizens of this commonwealth need a strong public transportation system and strong municipal roads, bridges, culverts, sidewalks, etcetera. Chapter 90 is a critical component of that. We urge you to continue its funding to continue its innovation. And I thank you very much for the time to testify. Thank you.
SPEAKER1 - Thank you, Brian, for your testimony today. Is there any questions for members of the committee for Brian? Seeing none, thank you for your testimony. I have a1912 panel here from MAPC,
Georgia Barlow, Linda Dunl Dunlavy.
SPEAKER2 - And do you
SPEAKER17 - have hi. We do have 2 folks online. Sure.
SPEAKER18 - We can go first. Sorry. Who's I'm going. Hi.
SPEAKER1 - How are you?
SPEAKER18 - Good. I'm Linda Dunlavy. I'm from the Franklin Regional Council of Governments, Mass Association of Regional Planning Agencies and Rural Policy Advisory Commission. Franklin County is the most rural county in Massachusetts, portion of which is also part of senator Mark's very large district. 71,000 people across 725 square miles. The Donahue Institute is projecting a 25% decline in our population by 2050. And so the work of the COG every day is to prevent those projections from happening, which means we need a strong economy. We need to build jobs. We need to build housing, and we need a strong infrastructure transportation infrastructure. And which is why I'm here to support the hundred million dollar increase in chapter 90 90 and to strongly encourage you to distribute it by road miles only. The cost to maintain a road is no different whether a municipality has a hundred people, a thousand people, or 10,000 people. In Franklin County, our towns get about $230,000 of chapter 90 a year. It costs 340,000 to just repave just 1 mile. And that's a bit of a problem for us.
Increasing chapter 90 by a hundred million dollars, distributing it by road miles only,2020 increases the average distribution to Franklin County municipalities by 75%. That's the good news. But it is also, excuse me,2032 the very bad news because it can show you how the 200,000,000 formula that uses road miles population and jobs disadvantages very rural communities. So our towns would use the extra money to very carefully plan how to deal with their infrastructure instead of just dealing with emergencies, instead of just doing the bare minimum. Importantly, it doesn't change the formula for the first 200000000. No municipality loses money with this. Every municipal municipality gets more. Let me turn to culverts and small bridges for a minute. We really support number 1, changing the small bridge program to small bridge and culvert program. And number 2, increasing funding by $200,000,000 The COG has systematically inventoried all of the culverts and drainage outlets in Franklin County municipalities. And the reason we talk so much about it is because we know that an undersized or damaged culvert and even a 12 inch drainage outlet can cause millions of dollars of damage in minutes during a microburst storm. We've experienced it. We've seen it happen. And we also know that it costs approximately $1,200,000 to replace a culvert to stream crossing standards. $1,200,000 is certainly beyond the reach of our municipalities that are only getting 240,000 in chapter 90 right now. So my hope is that you will support this. And before I'm over, I'm sorry, let me2133 say thank you to the representatives that supported the $10,000,000 for a dirt and gravel road program yesterday. 26% of the roads in Franklin2143 County are dirt and gravel. There is no way for us to reconstruct them without additional help. Thank you.
SPEAKER17 - Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Georgia Barlow. I'm here on behalf of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, which is the regional planning agency for the 101 cities in Greater Boston. We prioritize efforts that foster regional collaboration and we've long advocated to increase chapter 90 funding to support the large volume of road wear and repair maintenance needs both in our region and throughout the Commonwealth. As you've heard and will continue to hear, the funding levels for chapter 90 over the past few years have really just not kept up with the roadway construction and reconstruction needs. We're grateful for the legislature's commitment to funding a variety of these programs to help municipalities address the growing backlog of projects, but municipalities really need this higher and more sustained level of funding to so that they can complete these critical infrastructure projects. We believe this $300,000,000 investment annually is really will help more municipalities meet this need, and a multiyear commitment to that authorization will help plan for those longer term infrastructure projects. So that as we continue to plan some of these longer projects that we can't fund in 1 single year, there's that, understanding of that sustained floor2221 level that they can, use to address those larger infrastructure concerns. I will also just say that as this committee and the legislature considers, chapter 90 funding, we are also encouraging you to think about new revenue options for transportation and for infrastructure on a, larger basis. New revenue streams, particularly those that local municipalities can raise on their own can help them, be more active partners in these projects and identify projects of local priority, and ensure that they can get done in a more timely manner. We appreciate you taking this bill into consideration early into the session. We know that it is really critical as construction season starts, and we look forward to working with you all on a variety of transportation needs this year. And I'll pass it over to our municipal leaders who I believe should be virtual.
We have mayor Fuller on the line.
SPEAKER19 - Hey, folks. Hello from Newton. Let me start with a2284 huge thank you for f y 24 and f y 25. The senate, the house, Healy Driscoll were amazing in finding a way to increase the budget, and now we have a formal way of doing it for, in house 53. I'm in my eighth year as mayor in 2018,
put together our roads program, fast forward to today, the same amount of dollars do 30% less. The inflation in this particular sector is dramatic. We've been able to make a big difference. We have a paving condition index on our major roads and our our materials. The places where people actually live are going backwards. So our residential small streets, we just can't keep up.
Love the idea that the extra hundred million is based on road miles. It doesn't advantage Newton, but we are absolutely fine with it. Increasing the dollars is a big deal. Let me just point out why doing it for multiple years matters. We're here early April. Construction season starts April. Right around now, the temperature of the pavement works for us to get to work. It slides across fiscal years. So April, May, June, July, August, because of climate change, September, October are now the paving months. So doing it multiple years is a big deal, plus you gotta design before you can construct so that permanency of the funding is a huge, huge help.
Let me just close by saying what I suspect is true of all of you. I hate inflation and I hate uncertainty. This House 53 addresses both. Please, find a way to fund it. We'd be hugely grateful. All your residents will be. You'll get a lot of kudos from all the people who vote for you. Thanks so much.
SPEAKER17 - Thank you. And then Tony, I believe, is online. I
SPEAKER3 - don't know
SPEAKER17 - who's controlling.
SPEAKER20 - Good afternoon. Thank you,2455 chairman Arciero, chairman Crichton, and through you to the fellow members, of the committee. Thank you for the opportunity to, speak today virtually from the hunt. I'm here to speak on behalf and in support of, house bill 53 and advocate on behalf of increased, chapter 90 funding. The $200,000,000 annual investment over the past decade, unfortunately, has not kept up with inflation as you have heard. And the $300,000,000 annual, appropriation that the governor has proposed with multiyear authorization reflects closer to the real need. More specifically in Nahant, the smallest community in the Commonwealth, our annual budget is over 90 percent supported by residential property taxes, which, of course, is limited in growth by proposition 2 and a half. Even with only about 19 road miles in our town, our our 5 year pavement management plan calls for about $350,000 in annual investment to keep up with deterioration. And our chapter 90 funding, it usually is around $90,000 a year. So oftentimes, we have to supplement, the difference with with borrowing or other funding sources, which can be difficult for smaller residential communities. And on and on top of that, as a as a coastal community, often dealing with, flooding, and and climate change issues, our our coastal roads, deteriorate at a at a rapid pace. So I just wanna thank you again for, your consideration and for the opportunity to testify in front of you today.
SPEAKER1 - Thank you very much for your testimony. Any questions for the panel from the members of the committee? Seeing none, thank you for your testimony. We now have another panel. Governor Healy, secretary Gorkewitz, and commissioner Gulliver.
SPEAKER2 - Good
SPEAKER21 - afternoon. Thank thank you, chair or Sierra, chair Creighton, members of the committee. It's a pleasure to be here today alongside secretary Gorkowitz and administrative administrator Gulliver to testify on behalf of a chapter 90 bill that would make historic and long overdue investments in local transportation infrastructure. Over the past 2 plus years, we've spent a lot of time out in local communities with residents, with municipal officials all across Massachusetts. With some of you, I know that all of you are intimately familiar with needs in your districts and across the state. The need to fix potholes, repair roads, upgrade bridges in a timely manner, to have smooth sidewalks that are safe for our2664 seniors, for our kids, to have culverts that are big enough to handle, what's coming in terms of rainstorms and2670 flooding. I know we follow a panel presentation by local officials who spoke to to some of those things. As governor, I believe that local infrastructure is foundational to our economy. Local come out, local economies, the state economy as a whole. It's
residents get to their jobs, get to school, get to doctor's offices and other appointments. It's how local businesses get their workers, get their customers, their supply chains. Chains. But with costs increasing and costs having already increased, and especially with moves by president Trump that continue to, it seems, further, inflationary,
results, including the raising raising of of of tariffs. Municipalities are struck trying to do more with less. You just heard that from the local officials who were before you. So what do we do? We know there's a long standing need for better, more fair, and more timely funding for local transportation infrastructure, and this need is only growing more severe. And that's why this chapter 90 bill is the heart of our $8,000,000,000 transportation funding plan. With this bill, every city and town will get a significant boost in funding for local roads, bridges, sidewalks, culverts. It would increase annual support for municipalities by by 50% from 200,000,000 to 300,000,000 annually with a total investment of 1,500,000,000.0 over 5 years. This bill also puts a special focus on regional fairness, supporting small towns and regional in rural communities. I know there's a concern in rural communities and especially in Western Massachusetts about getting fair treatment. That concern is historically justified. I sat with officials a few weeks ago, members of, city town town planners and other town administrators to talk about this very issue. And it's, for these reasons, based on concern about what's happening with, towns and rural communities in particular, that we wanted to design this bill in a way that would put in an additional hundred million dollars each year to be allocated on the basis of road mileage alone. That recognizes the fact that rural towns have longer roads and fewer resources to maintain them. I also wanna say a word about why we are proposing a 5 year commitment rather than annual authorization.
Fundamentally, this approach, particularly in this moment where federal funding is so uncertain, where there are market forces that are lending themselves to a tremendous amount of uncertainty, When there's uncertainty, that makes it harder to plan. It makes it harder to invest. But we believe a 5 year commitment rather than annual authorization, which I acknowledge would be different and a departure from past practice, is appropriate because it provides greater certainty to these cities and towns, and it will reduce potential delays in committing resources as a result. This enables long term capital planning and strategic investment. And we think that's a more fair approach, a better approach to working with and supporting our2887 municipal partners. I wanna thank members of our2891 chapter 90 advisory group who are local leaders and transportation officials from towns across the state whose input was critical in shaping the strategy. And I want to, thank this legislature, this committee, and members for ongoing partnership and thoughtful consideration of of this bill. And with that, I'll turn it over to, my colleagues in our administration, but we remain, ready to, to continue dialogue and work through this issue. Issue. I know that, you know, transportation funding is so so important. Infrastructure funding is so integral to the economy of the state. And, you know, it's a challenging time, but we took a look at things and think that this is a this is a way forward that'll, result in in better outcomes for the entirety of the state. Thank you very much, mister chair, mister chair. Great. Okay.
SPEAKER12 - Good afternoon. Thank you chairs Crichton and Arceo, for holding this hearing and inviting members of the administration to testify before you today. Also I wanna thank the joint committee, and your, incredibly, hardworking staff, we appreciate, our partnership with, and wanna thank you and their efforts, on behalf of, the administration. I'm Matthew Gokowitz. I'm secretary for administration finance. As the governor just laid out, this chapter 90 bill will ensure that every city and town in Massachusetts will receive new resources for local transportation, enabling improvements to road, bike, and pedestrian infrastructure, and much more. Last year, governor Healy and lieutenant governor Driscoll asked2991 MasDot and my team, A and F, to convene an advisory group to assess the challenges with the chapter 90 program, funding, distribution, project approval process, and come3001 up with some proposed solutions. The advisory group, a 16 member statewide3005 panel, brought together municipal leaders and public works officials from across Massachusetts, many of whom you've heard from today. The bill before you today is a product of that collaboration. The bill increases annual support for municipalities by 50%, reaching $300,000,000 annually. That's compared to the traditional $200,000,000 that has been in place for some time. And our proposal updates the chapter nineties program formula to ensure every community in Massachusetts receives a significant increase in local road support with enhanced support for small and rural communities. Specifically, this bill gives smaller and rural rural communities an additional boost of aid by distributing an additional hundred million dollars provided each year on the basis of road mileage only. Let me speak to that, road mileage only, not the regular not in the regular formula, which includes mile, employment, and, and population. This bill also proposes a multiyear authorization that enables, effective, capital planning and more timely deployment of funds. We know you have considered multi year authorizations in the past, but we truly believe, as the governor just, testified, this will give cities and towns a measure of certainty in a time when it is, most needed in this moment. The 5 year authorization proposed would reduce delays in municipal, municipalities committing resources and supporting long term capital planning and strategic investments. We are able to do this in part by continuing to strategically take advantage of our fair share revenue to leverage the additional borrowing. If you've heard me speak anywhere recently, you've probably heard me say not to look at any 1 spending bill, in a vacuum, but rather to look at the entire, package of bills that we filed, collectively. That's because this plan, for chapter 90 hangs together3109 in part with our house 1 proposal, the FY 26 proposal, which I know, many of you will be, taking up in the next couple of weeks. And it is coupled with our plan to dedicate, about $765,000,000 to the Commonwealth Transportation Fund to leverage, nearly $8,000,000 of, new transportation borrowing over the next, 10 years. This has 2 benefits when it comes to chapter 90. First, it allows us to expand the chapter 90 program using new borrowing capacity in the Commonwealth Transportation Fund, the CTF fund, with confidence that we can afford to cover the increased size of the program without crowding out other priorities in
SPEAKER2 - our capital plans. Second, it will boost vital funding
SPEAKER12 - for all 3 of the will boost vital funding for all 351 cities and towns to the state, across the state, from the largest to the smallest, with big commitment to rural communities. We have heard, and you know the scale of the need. I will point out that, the last time this formula was updated, was in 02/2012, nearly 13 years ago, and the cost to keep maintaining, the same, infrastructure, has gone up significantly since it was last adjusted. Also, in this, chapter 90 authorization, are some additional, authorizations that would allow our administration to deliver on the plan that to invest $8,000,000,000, in our infrastructure over the next 10 years. Most notably, the authorization, the chapter 90, bill also calls for $200,000,000 to be spent upgrading and replacing culverts across the Commonwealth. We know, how important it is for cities and towns to protect their local infrastructure, especially in the face of changing climate, more frequent flooding, and other concerns. The bill also, allows us to deploy, on our plan for $1,500,000,000 for the road and bridge, life cycle asset management program to address the conditions of pavement, and bridges state wide.3218 This chapter 90 bill adds a $500,000,000 authorization, bringing that previously authorized billion dollars up to 1.5. So you had previously authorized a billion dollars in,3228 bond bills that are in place. This adds another 500, to that to get to our, proposal, to spend 1.5 over that period of time. This will allow us to, tackle the state of our our pavement and structurally deficient bridges, in every in every highway district. The plan also calls for a hundred and $85,000,000 in capital funding for MassDOT to take on, take action on, safety and congestion hotspots across the state. These dollars will support better conditions for drivers, pedestrians, and transit riders, alike. This bill, gives our state the ability to fix rail crossings, intersections, near schools, commercial, districts, residential areas, wherever attention is most needed to ease congestion and ensure ensure public safety. I know, we've thrown a lot, of information at you today, but at the end of the day, the plan that we've put forward, the $8,000,000,000, transportation proposal, which includes, 1,500,000,000.0 for chapter 90, is really about, about the people about the people the governor talked about about, the visits that, this administration has made to cities and towns across the state. It's about people, needing safe sidewalks and streets, without potholes, kids needing a place to ride their bikes that is safe, businesses need transportation infrastructure to deliver commerce. People know, want to know that their bridges will be open when they need to drive to the doctors or get their kids to school. The construction industry wants to know that Massachusetts respects and supports their hard work, and our residents and our cities and towns across Massachusetts want to know the state will be there to support them for the next 5 years and beyond. So with that, I I wanna thank you for your consideration of this, important bill. Remind everyone that this bill works in tandem with many other pieces of legislation filed, and happy to talk, and take any questions. But at this point, I'll turn it over to, administrative Jonathan Gulliver.
SPEAKER22 - Alright. Thank you, secretary, chair Creighton, Charles Sierra, thank you. And members of the committee, thank you very much for this opportunity to testify today. My name is Jonathan Gulliver. I'm the state highway administrator. And on behalf of MassDOT, secretary Tibbets Nutt, and the Hilly Driscoll administration, again, thank you for the opportunity to testify on on this very important bill. Transportation is the backbone of a thriving economy and the lifeline of vibrant communities across the state. It connects us to jobs, health care, education, and to 1 another. The administration's vision is clear and accessible, resilient, and reliable transportation that serves everybody, including urban and suburban areas, as well as rural communities. Chapter 90 gets to the heart of that. Chapter 90 funding is and remains a cornerstone of municipal transportation infrastructure across Massachusetts. It provides cities and towns with critical resources to repair, maintain, and improve local roadways and bridges. The funds are often the primary source of support for municipal transportation projects, particularly for smaller or rural communities that lack a substantial local tax base or other funding sources to invest into transportation with. Local leaders know best when where where transportation where safety improvements are needed, fixing potholes or improving intersection, empowers these communities to address those needs directly, leading to safer streets for drivers, cyclists, pedestrians, and transit users alike. Investing in safer roadways helps helps reduce accidents and enhances overall public safety as well. And let me be clear, none of this happens in a vacuum. It is a partnership to advance some of these important local initiatives with the state. I am grateful for many of you and the municipal CEOs and leaders that we worked with to ensure that this funding is used in making these impactful chamber changes. And, I especially wanna thank the chapter 90 advisory group that both the governor and the secretary mentioned. They really pushed us to make some, changes to chapter 90 to think differently about how we approach it. And this group challenged us to apply a new formula to to any to the program size beyond the 200,000,000 that we've been talking about. Choosing from a variety of scenarios, they really asked us to look at at many things here, reducing the weight of, employment in the formula, eliminating employment from the formula altogether, and apportionments based on municipally owned road mileage. And they also encourage this multi year authorization that's before you. Capital planning for municipalities, enhancing training, and guidance for expanding project eligibility are all things that we've considered and incorporated into the chapter 90 program this year this year. And these changes have been in in put into effect in this budget. It's proposed at $300,000,000 annually over 5 years and provisions for 1 third of that or a hundred million dollars a year to be distributed on this new methodology using exclusively load, road mileage. This again was all recommended by the by the chapter 90 advisory group.
Chapter ninety's locally driven approach really does lead to more efficient and effective outcomes, and communities are able to act quickly on shovel ready projects that have an immediate impact. And again, this 5 year approach, the the multiyear funding really provides more reliability to enable them to plan those projects ahead over multiple years and get the right kind of bid prices that they need to execute them. Aside from chapter 90, we are really continuing to work with municipal partner with with municipalities to improve our partnerships across the board with MassDOT. This past year, our team launched the Grant Central platform. It's an innovative solution that provides technical assistance to town administrations and workers so that they can access funding of every kind, not just chapter 90, but our grant program as well more expediently and more efficiently than ever. As the secretary noted, this, this bill also includes other investments beyond chapter 90. I'd like to just highlight a couple of those. In addition to the important chapter 90 investments being proposed, the bill also to includes additional investments in culverts and small bridges. Small bridges has been a program that MassDOT has administered for a number of years. Culverts has always been a blind spot in both the state and federal program, and this addresses that blind spot providing important investments towards improving safety, it it it it's as well as improving, as well as additional investments towards employing improving safety and congestion hotspots across communities. The $200,000,000 of additional grant investments in culverts and small bridges specifically, will help to replace undersized and deteriorating drainage infrastructure with more resilient replacements, enhances climate change preparedness, and reduce the backlog of deferred maintenance for state and local governments. This bill will also help us with a hundred and 80 5 million to take action on those safety and congestion hot spots that I just mentioned. At its core, all of these investments are really about advancing regional transportation equity, ensuring that residents across Massachusetts, regardless of zip code, have access to reliable and accessible transportation options. So, again, to recap, chapter 90 is an investment in in opportunity and access and resilience for every resident of the state. By sharing our commitment to chapter 90, we affirm a broader vision, a transportation that is truly safer, more equitable, and and built to serve every corner of Massachusetts. A strong chapter 90 program ensures that all communities, urban, suburban, and rural, have access to the funding they need to to build and maintain modern infrastructure. And the funding model proposed here today recognizes the unique challenges and needs of each region, ensuring that no community is left behind in our push for safer, more accessible transportation. These investments reflect our administration's House 1 proposal to leverage fair share surtax through the Commonwealth Transportation Fund to stabilize and enhance the state's infrastructure. And it's worth noting, as usual, that infrastructure investment is a has a3711 very strong return on investment. It helps local economies by creating good paying construction and engineering3717 jobs, improves roads and bridges to help attract new businesses, support tourism, and enable workforce mobility across the state. And whether it's improving locally owned transportation infrastructure, improving traffic flow, supporting public transit links, or expanding bike and pedestrian infrastructure, these investments will help communities deliver the modern and multimodal travel options that improve the quality of life
SPEAKER2 - for all citizens of Massachusetts.
SPEAKER22 - So I encourage you to favorably report out this bill today, and thank you very much for the opportunity to testify again.
SPEAKER1 - Thank you for your testimony, commissioner and mister secretary. Are there any questions for members of the community? Representative Linsky.
SPEAKER23 - Thank you very much, mister chairman. I this is really a question for, administrator Gulliver, I think. In earlier in earlier testimony today, we were told that basically, as far as maintenance goes, road miles are road miles, and that it's the same cost to maintain a a a mile of roadway irrespective of how much usage that it gets. Is that an accurate statement? I find that kind of hard to believe, to be honest
SPEAKER1 - with you.
SPEAKER22 - So the I mean, pavement cost is pavement cost. So if a road needs repair, it absolutely is going to cost similar amounts of money whether that road roadway takes a lot of3799 traffic or very little traffic. The lifespan3801 may differ on that particular roadways, so that that that can absolutely change. But the the cost to replacement and this is what a lot of small towns really3809 struggle with, is that they have, they have roadways that that are, you know, may maybe 20, 25 years old and to repave that entire roadway cost just as much per mile as it does to replace 1 that's in a in a more urban area that has higher traffic on it. So, again, your lifespan may differ, but the the cost is is very, very real.3828 And, as as I think 1 of the earlier speakers noted, inflation around these costs has has3834 absolutely increased over the years. Part of the reason why we're proposing this multi multi year appropriation as well, something I say often with with, with folks I talk to, contractors don't price risk, they assume it, and with as the governor noted, the the current 1 year system really provides a lot of3854 uncertainty for contractors, and it really makes it difficult for communities to plan out multiyear projects.
SPEAKER23 - Just just3860 so that we're all clear on this, though, if I if I could just follow-up. I mean, I get it that the cost to replace a certain section of roadway is the same whether it's an urban area or a rural area, but the reality is in the heavier used area, you've got to replace it more often because of usage. So, therefore, when you look at the total cost over a span of time for maintaining3887 a roadway, it costs a lot more to do it in a heavily used area. The Mass Turnpike, for example.
SPEAKER22 - Yeah. Well, you're you're gonna so the turnpike is not gonna be the same as a rural road. Right. Obviously. And you use a different pavement design. You have much depth you know, higher depth of base. There's a lot of different engineering that goes into a roadway that is carrying a hundred thousand vehicles a day, for example, versus a local roadway, like the turnpike versus a local roadway that might3914 get 10 or 15000. So you're it's gonna3916 be a different design, but the the expenses are real.
SPEAKER23 - Okay. Alright. I just wanna make it clear that it's not exactly the same. But thank you very much.
SPEAKER1 - Thank you, representative. Vice chairman Phillips.
SPEAKER2 - Thank you. Mister secretary, I was wondering if you could just walk us through, the how you, came to the 5 year window, rather than say a
SPEAKER24 - 2 or 3, year appropriation. Mhmm.
SPEAKER2 - What the wisdom was behind that and, how you settle on.
SPEAKER12 - Well, I think when we again, if you take a a step back and look at the, sort of, the broader proposal for our $8,000,000,000 investment, we we we sized it based on a couple of things. 1 is, in this, I would say there's 3 there's 3 separate bills that are that are at play here. There's the fair share stop, which you all, in the house took up, yesterday, and thank you for your, taking that up and, supporting a number of the transportation, items, that we included that, help support our overall plan. The second is the, FY 26 budget, which we'll we'll see very soon, which is a major piece of how we leverage the fair share dollars to then, support additional borrowing in the CTF. And really, we we looked at what our our capacity was over that 10 years by leveraging, nearly $765,000,000 of fair share in our CTF, and came up with a proposal that was sized for, for what was available over that period of time. Overall, we're looking at a a 10 year project for some things. Some of the things, within our proposal are 5 years like the chapter 90, but it was really sized based on our our capacity and what we were looking at, for leveraging the fair share dollars that we had available for us at this time, while also making sure that we had geographic equity. So, you know, we didn't want something, what we were proposing here, is4024 happening alongside, investments in our4026 road and bridge project, our rail enhancement program,4028 as well as culverts. So we really tried to make sure that, all of the, transportation programs, that are are, funded statewide, were able to fit in, our, our proposal. I would also say that in addition to the, chapter 90 advisory group, we also had a transportation task force, that looked at a number of these things. And so as we were sort of looking at what we could do to our bonding capacity by leveraging fair share, we were also looking at the priorities that came through that task force, which it included, you know, additional funding for the MBTA, obviously, addressing the fiscal cliff, which is a here and now issue, dealing with RTAs, dealing with our accelerated bridge program, our rail enhancement program. So there were a lot of, ideas that came through that task force, and it was a matter of trying to prioritize those and fit those into, a multiyear, structure that leveraged our fair share dollars. So it was really about the capacity we were able to develop with that, leveraging the fair share we had available to us.
SPEAKER1 - Thank you. Chairman Creighton.
SPEAKER4 - Thank you, mister chairman. First, thank you to the secretary, administrator, and governor, certainly for the the chapter 90 advisory group, also the funding task force, and for your commitment to making all things transportation a priority, of this administration. So I'm gonna follow-up to the the vice chairman's question around the 5 year time period. I I certainly understand, the certainty, that's created for municipalities by going to the 5 years, and I I think it's, you know, completely justified in that sense. I would just ask given the the uncertainty or chaos that, has also been referenced today at the federal level, potential loss of transportation funds, potential, you know, increase in costs of, materials,4130 supply chain disruption. I4132 mean, you name it. We don't know, you know, what's happening tomorrow, never mind, you know, months or years from now. Is there any risk4138 or downside to going from the 1 year authorization to 5 given all this uncertainty? Or are we through this financial mechanism of sorts, insulating ourselves with that $765,000,000 transfer to the Commonwealth Transportation Fund?
SPEAKER12 - So I I think 1 of the things, that we had been thinking about in presenting this overall transportation plan, is 1 that these are dollars that we have within our control. And we know that there's a lot of uncertainty, and as we know, there's a lot of things we can't control, but we were trying to, focus on what we could control. And so we felt very confident advancing this plan, to you, the legislature for your consideration because it all it included resources that we we could could control. And so while there may be things happening at the federal level, that might impact transportation, we knew that what we could put in front of you was was4192 reliable. We also know that, there's gonna be pressures on all of these transportation programs that we're funding through our $8,000,000,000 plan, including pressures on cities and towns, on cities and towns that, receive money either directly from the feds or from other, resources that'll be challenged. And again, this was about providing some certainty over a period of time, that, that we thought was important. And so that was our calculus, and that was the decision we made in putting this forward. I understand that you'll have, you know, as the situation evolves, you'll have, different decisions, to potentially make. But I think there's a strong case for, thinking about the certainty and and the multi year approach that we've taken.
SPEAKER1 - Thank you, Sankton. Any additional questions for the panel? Seeing none, thank you very much for your testimony.
SPEAKER12 - Thank you.
SPEAKER1 - K. I have what do you got here? Glen Cannon, the town of Carver.
I believe he's remote.
So we got a Glen Cannon and a Larry Langford, both virtual, from the town of Carver. You guys still there?
K. We'll get back to you. Diane Sennel from the town of Hatfield? I'm sorry. I butchered your name. Okay.
And Garrett, Barry, you guys can come together. It'd be a little bit easier.4297
SPEAKER3 - Thank you very much. Welcome. First of all, you know, we are delighted to be here. We thank you chair, our CEO, chair Credence, for the work you're doing and also thank you for all the members. I am Diana Zinal. I'm chair of the Hatfield Select Board. I have with me Garrett Berry, our highway superintendent. Hatfield is a very small town, so I'm very happy to bring you a small town perspective on all of this today. We're a little farming community of about 3,200 people nestled right along the Connecticut River. It's really beautiful.
We, very much support house 53. We do hope that you all report favorably on that. What I wanna talk about a little bit today is, again, that direct small town perspective and and sort of drive home real dollars on what this means to us. So we do support the additional funding. Of course, that goes without saying. And we certainly appreciate the 5 year, multi year funding proposal for this. So, actually,
you know, due to other communities adding road miles and other things to do with the formula. We've lost about $16,000 a year, over the last 12 years. That's that's significant for a small town. At the same time, the cost of hot mix asphalt have gone from a low price of about $62.50 a ton to the current price about a hundred and 12 per ton. So as you can see, our cost, have pretty much doubled, and yet our proportion went down about 7% during that time. So that's why these extra monies are so important and so appreciated by a town of our size. The extra money and then the, 5 year apportionment will allow us to better plan and bid our jobs.4413 Costs for a simple mill and fill are about $300,000 a mile. If there needs to be a full depth reclamation, those are about $750,000 a mile. Our apportionment has been about $240,000. We have $401,000 this year because of4436 the surtax money. We're very grateful for that.4438 We'll be using that money, to try to to pay part of Elm Street, which is the main town main road, excuse me, that goes in and out. But our plan is to pay until we run out of money. And so it's not exactly the best, strategic way to look at projects.
For us to keep our roads actually in a serviceable condition, we would need to pave about 2 miles of road, that would be a mill and fill, chip seal 2 miles, crack seal and paint our lines every year, which would actually be about $833,000 a year if we really wanted to stay on top of our our maintenance plan. I do like that this, the funding will, allow us to create a road plan, with some allow us to strategically think about some of these larger road projects. And that's really important for a town as small as ours.
The fair share money, the extra money, as I mentioned before, has been very much appreciated. This this additional money, particularly with the basis of just counting road miles, will very much help out small towns like us.
I guess, I would just, in closing, just say, you know, that this, money is just so incredibly important to small towns. I would urge you to support this and pass the 5 year 300000000 dollar chapter 90 bond bill, as it is important to our community's ability to maintain our roads, bridges, sidewalks, and the scariest word of all to anyone on a select board, Culverks. So so we thank you for your time, and but we did wanna just drive it home a little bit more just in dollars and cents for you of what towns like ours with a $14,000,000 budget. So these bunnies would be very appreciated and go a long way helping us really make some progress on maintaining our words.
SPEAKER1 - Oh, just moral support? Okay. Alright. Great. Any questions for the the panel? Seeing none. Thank you very much. Oh, I'm sorry. Representative Sabadoso.
SPEAKER3 - I just, first of
SPEAKER15 - all, wanna say thank you so much for driving in today to share the perspective of Hatfield. It is deeply appreciated. The committee will be going on a road show, so perhaps we will be able to visit the town of Hatfield Hampshire.
SPEAKER3 - We'd love to welcome you.
SPEAKER15 - And I just I
SPEAKER3 - I just wanted to I appreciate again
SPEAKER15 - the point that you put on this for small communities. I know Hatfield has a 14 you said $14,000,000 budget. You've gone through overrides recently too. Has has any of that been, you know, helped? Could you just speak
SPEAKER3 - to and made for our school system. We happen to have the smallest school system in the state and the largest potato farmer. But I think, no. We have not, have not done it, and and none of the of the override. 1 override was
SPEAKER10 - inspiration. Alright.
SPEAKER3 - Thank you. I appreciate that.
SPEAKER1 - Thank you very thank you very much for your testimony. No any questions? Seeing none. Chuck Lativas from Massachusetts Aggregate Asphalt and Pavement Association.
Thank you, Chuck.
SPEAKER25 - Good afternoon. Good afternoon.
Chairman Arcero, Creighton, committee, thank you for, listening to our testimony and inviting us.
My name is Chuck Lapis. I am the executive director of MAPPA, which is the Massachusetts Aggregate and Asphalt Pavement Association. MAPPA fully supports h 53, governor Healy's proposal for, $1,500,000,000 multiyear chapter 90 program.
A little background on MAPPA and who we represent. We represent over 17 Massachusetts based, producers, companies, with more than 75 production facilities across the state,
installing hot mix asphalt as well as warm mix asphalt across the Commonwealth. We directly employ more than 2,000 people, with good paying jobs and indirectly employ more than 5,000 plus per year engineers, truck drivers, quality control technicians, safety personnel, and and and others in the construction field. A multiyear chapter 90 allocation is critical for both municipal planning purposes as well as for the contractors and producers.
It's an it's extremely difficult for our members to to to make long term commitments and capital expenditures and investments without knowing what's gonna happen in 2026 or what we're gonna get in 2027. So that stability is is critically important for capital investment and contractors. It's also, as everybody has articulated, you know, critically important and and for cities and towns, in building out and planning projects, over the course of, you know, 3 to 5 year horizons, and be able to save money by doing that as opposed to doing it on a year by year annual basis. Well, being able to plan actually gives them the ability to save some money.
$1,500,000,000 5 year allocation is vital to, you know, upgrading and maintaining our municipal roads.
The funding will tackle, you know, long some some long deferred projects that that that we've seen across the state, so they'll be able to tackle those projects across the state. Increasing the chapter 90 funding from 2,200,000,000 to 300,000,000 will have a significant impact on the ability to, maintain our roads and increase, safety of the road system and, in partnership with our local communities and contractors. And I guess as as a final point, I would just like to also support the $500,000,000
that is represented to, augment the, life cycle assessment program that the DOT is using to be able to manage the system. So that that will help them, you know, be able to manage and promote the system, you know, across the state moving forward. We we respectfully urge, your support for this, this, bill, this legislation, and I thank you for your consideration.
SPEAKER1 - Thank you for for your testimony. Is there any questions, for mister Ladvis? I'm seeing none. Thank you for your testimony. Thank you. I'm gonna go back to see if Glenn Cannon or Larry Langford are available. Just give you 1 more chance.
Okay. Anyone else here chooses to testify?
There's a panel online. There's a panel online.
No 1 that signed up.
Okay. Well, whoever's online, come on up.
SPEAKER24 - Mister chairman, I guess I can take that 1.
SPEAKER1 - Okay. Whoever you are. Okay. Oh, hey, mister mayor.
SPEAKER24 - How are you,
SPEAKER23 - rep chair?
SPEAKER24 - Thank you very much.
SPEAKER1 - You got it.
SPEAKER24 - To, chair us here and chair Creighton. Thank you very much for the opportunity. Sorry for the, mix up with the,
SPEAKER1 - It's all good.
SPEAKER24 - Sign up there too, but thank you very much for the opportunity, to you and to the members to, testify on this bill. My name is Michael Nicholson. I have the pleasure of serving as the mayor of the city of Gardner and also the president of the Massachusetts mayor's association. Having also previously served on the transportation funding task force, I know firsthand how the group carefully considered the many needs across the entire transportation network in the Commonwealth. The task force recognized that municipalities have a considerable responsibility when it comes to maintaining roads and bridge infrastructure through the Commonwealth, given municipalities limited ability to generate local revenue, this additional state support is, very needed. This chapter 90 proposal, for up to 3,000,000, dollars 1 hundred million per year would dramatically assist communities in maintaining the4976 more than 30,000 miles of local roads4978 and bridges. And just as importantly, the proposed multi year authorization is a4982 critical component to this year's proposal. Through the governor's proposal, the city of Garda would receive $44,500,000 over the course of the next 5 years. Excuse me. A 55% increase over our annual allotment. In a city that has around a hundred miles of roads and 50 miles of sidewalks, excuse me, that makes a big difference. And under this proposal, Gardiner is not the anomaly. The proposed investments and distributions will provide at least 45% of an increase in investment to over 85% of communities in the Commonwealth, and this is game changing and historic. For many of our communities, our roads and our infrastructure are the first impression that people have of our cities and towns. That helps us advance our economic development goals, our housing goals, our education goals, and everything in between5032 because if people are looking to get to where they5034 need to go, they need to be able to get there in a5036 safe and, secure manner. I wanna thank you all again for your consideration of this legislation and the opportunity to speak today. I strongly urge you to, to offer a favorable report on this bill and expedite the overall approval of this bill, for municipalities to fully take advantage of the construction season coming up. Another reason why the 5 year authorization is, very helpful to cities and towns in helping us plan over the course of our long term capital improvement projects, not just in our, overall building infrastructure, but in our roadway and, pedestrian infrastructure as well. Thank you all very much for your time, and I'm happy to answer any questions that you may have. Thank you.
SPEAKER1 - Any questions, for mayor Nicholson, not from members of the committee? Seeing none, thank you, mister mayor, for your testimony. We have a few other Thank you. Individuals who have jumped on virtually. We have a Catherine Wharton from Beckett.
SPEAKER26 - Good afternoon, chair Arcirio and chair Creighton and committee members. I appreciate that I'm appreciative of the opportunity to speak today, and thank you for your everyday partnership with cities and towns. I am Kathy Warden, town administrator of Beckett, which is located on the cross roads of Route 8 And 20 in the Berkshires on the edge of Hamden County. We're a small community of 1,930 people with 59 road miles, 30 of them being gravel, and 29 of them being paved. And while I agree with all of my colleagues that have spoke today, I especially want to, address the issue of culverts that affects not only Beckett, but all the communities across the Commonwealth. The town of5139 Beckett is currently facing significant challenges due to extreme weather conditions resulting in5145 the deterioration of many of our 40 culverts. At present, we have 1 culvert that5151 is on the verge of failure, prompting the town to do reduce Benton Hill Road to 1 lane. The collapse of the failed culvert can be attributed to the ongoing severe weather experienced across the Commonwealth. To respond to this pressure pressing issue, we have initiated plans to convert the failed culvert into a small bridge project to ensure the effective maintenance of water5175 flow. The current expenses to address this situation are5179 estimated a hundred and $37,500 to cover the engineering, permitting, and reviews. Additionally, we will require 750,000 to construct a small bridge that aligns with the stream crossing standards. In total, we are looking at 887,000 to complete 1 project with5200 an annual budget of 9,000,000. You can imagine what an undertaking this cost is and what a challenge it would be to replace another 5 culverts that are currently also at risk of failure. With approximately 25,000 culverts and small bridges throughout the Commonwealth, it is important to note that the proposed funding is desperately needed, particularly given with the many structures,
house 5 house 5 3 proposal aims to enhance these investments by providing a consistent, reliable funding stream to communities. The proposed multi years increased investment will augment not only chapter 90, but also additional funding for designated culverts and small bridges. On behalf of the small towns across the Commonwealth, I urge urge the committee to support this bill that will provide resources necessary to address these critical infrastructure needs. Thank you for your time. And if you do come on a road trip, please come to Beckett. I'd love to show you some culverts. Thank you.
SPEAKER1 - Thank you5279 very much for your testimony. Any questions from members of the committee? Seeing none, thank you very much. Jeff Colby, who is also virtual from Yarmouth.
SPEAKER9 - Yes. Thank you, mister chair Arcerio and chair Creighton and committee members. And thank you so much for this opportunity to speak today and for your everyday partnership with cities and towns. I'm Jeff Colby, the Yarmouth public works director, and I'm also on the board of the Barnesville County Public Works and the Massachusetts Highway Association. So I5309 have a good understanding of the many needs of our local communities, and I'm grateful for this opportunity to speak with you today about the5315 highlights, the needs of Yarmouth and some of our neighboring communities, give you a a Cape Cod perspective. Yarmouth has 240 miles of roads, a 68 culverts, 40 miles of sidewalk, and approximately 24,000 residents. We have an annual municipal operating budget of, $47,000,000. In order to address our backlog of road5337 repair needs, we would need to invest at least $20,000,000. We're deeply grateful for the5343 legislature's recent investments in supplemental funding for the chapter 90 program. These investments helped us to design and construct numerous safety enhancements on our local roads, including some road, surface preservation, sidewalk, and also a shared use path improvement. So we really appreciate that that help. But this additional boost in chapter 90 would help the arm5365 of the tackle the backlog of those road maintenance projects that I mentioned before, has far reaching, help with our sidewalk and resurfacing goals and would strategically target our most critical culvert needs to enhance our resilience. A couple of key points I wanted to make. This additional funding allows us the5384 ability to invest in repairs and road maintenance earlier in the life cycle of the roadway in order to more cost effectively extend roadway life before conditions worsen and the repairs become even more expensive. These additional funds would also allow Yarmouth to continue to partner with the Commonwealth in creating shared use path extensions off of the current Cape Cod rail trail. And this multi year appropriation is also critical in allowing communities long term certainty for for planning and programming for these multi year projects. You've heard that from a couple of speakers today. In short, we thank you for this consideration for this legislation and the opportunity to speak today. I strongly urge you to offer a favorable report on this bill and expedite the overall approval of this bill in order for our municipality to take full advantage of this construction season. Please don't hesitate to reach out if you're on that roadshow and you wanna come see, a Cape community. We're happy to, give you a tour. I I I'm excited that you're doing a roadshow. And if you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to Yarmouth about, any of the questions about our our local community. So thank you very much.
SPEAKER1 - Thank you, Jeff, for your testimony. Any, questions from the members of the committee for mister Colby? Seeing none. Thank you very much for your testimonies. Is there anyone else out there virtually? We don't see you, but who knows? Is there anyone else, wishing to testify that didn't get the opportunity? Seeing none, for a motion to adjourn? A motion to adjourn. All those in favor? Aye.