Bond Bill 2: The sequel's better than the first

Thanks to Dan Ring for bringing this to our attention:

The House will vote on Bond Bill 2 tomorrow, Wednesday, June 11.

6001-0804 For the purpose of implementing rail improvements under chapter 161C of the General Laws; provided, that funds may be used for transportation planning, design, permitting and engineering for heavy rail, light rail and bus projects, which shall include the Urban Ring, Blue Line extension to Lynn, the Connecticut River Knowledge Corridor Line and South Coast initiatives; provided, however, that that the extension of the Blue Line to Lynn shall be restricted to existing commuter rail rights of way excluding narrow gauge rail line rights of way; provided further, that funds may be used for the acquisition of interests in land; provided further, that $220,000 shall be expended for Phase II disabled accessibility renovations at the rail depot in the town of Athol; and provided further, that $50,000 shall be expended to study the feasibility of constructing a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Commuter Rail station in the town of West Bridgewater.........................$90,000,000

(more to come)

Approve this Bond Bill

The Republican has this story on the upcoming Bond Bill:

"A $2.9 billion, three-year, state transportation bond bill headed to the House floor for action this week is an urgently needed step to address the commonwealth's deteriorating roads and bridges, lawmakers and regional planners say."

This bill should be approved. But it doesn't have funding for the NHHS line in it, you may note....why do we still think it should be approved? Because we want to be sure the WMASS delegation is prepared to argue for the NHHS line. Right now, they are not--there are too many other pressing needs, for example:

"The bond is a microcosm of the funding needed to ensure safety of roads and bridges across the state, he said. Citing the work of the state Transportation Finance Commission, Brennan said the state will need to spend $15 billion to $19 billion over the next 20 years just to bring existing roads and bridges up to a state of good repair. "That's the situation, and the situation is gloomy," Brennan said."

Fix what needs fixing for safety's sake, and add the project to help the environment, stimulate the economy, and ease transportation problems in the subsequent bond bill. Plus, the state of Connecticut only just recently signed a contract with Wilbur Smith, the firm that will do the environmental assessment....in other words, there's still time left.

Status report on NHHS in MA

Status report:

The Governor filed the transportation bond bill late (supposed to be in June-July). Half of it is money the state is fronting so that the Federal government will reimburse us from federal transportation revenue. It's a traditional style $4 billion transportation bond bill pending for this fiscal year (which is half over), now before the Senate. It contains a dollar amount for the Fitchburg expansion--a worthy project.

There is no money for the NHHS line in this bond bill. While not great, this is OK, since CT has not been as fast as expected in getting a contract for Wilbur-Smith. They have that contract now. The environmental assessment and design study (involving public participation processes) will take 18 months to 2 years.

CT-MA Conversations about NHHS are ongoing (Sec. Cohen spoke about it as a key project at Bradley Conference, high-ranking CONN DOT official speaks about it there too). Oh, and there’s that $40 million federal money for the Springfield Union Station intermodal transportation facility. HDR is working on the design.