LYNNFIELD – The town is on track to receive $412,336.57 in state funding to help maintain its roads and bridges under a proposed $350 million transportation bond bill recently approved by the House of Representatives.
“The Chapter 90 program offers a critical source of revenue to help communities like Lynnfield address their local transportation infrastructure priorities,” said House Minority Leader Bradley H. Jones, Jr. (R-North Reading). “I’m happy to join with my House colleagues to support this new spending authorization, along with an increase in funding for other transportation-related state grant programs that Lynnfield could potentially access for its infrastructure needs.”
Town Administrator Rob Dolan said the Select Board has made road repair a “top priority.”
“They have approved a plan to spend over $1.1 million in FY 24 on our roads,” Dolan said. “This is the second year in a row that the town has spent over $1 million which is the most allocated in town history,” adding that the total amount is a combination of “state road money, capital spending and special grants.”
A press release from Jones’ office said that House Bill 3547, an act financing improvements to municipal roads and bridges, was preliminarily approved by the House on March 23 by a vote of 153-0. The bill includes $200 million in Chapter 90 money for fiscal year 2024 for municipalities throughout the state for local transportation infrastructure projects. It also includes “$150 million in additional funding to support six transportation-related municipal grant programs.”
“Established in 1973, Chapter 90 allocates annual funding to all 351 Massachusetts cities and towns, using a formula that calculates the weighted average of a community’s local road mileage (58.33 percent), population (20.83 percent) and employment (20.83 percent),” the press release said. “Funding is provided on a reimbursable basis, with cities and towns required to pay for the work up-front before being compensated by the state for eligible costs.”
Beyond the $200 million allocated for Chapter 90, House Bill 3547 provides funding increases for six grant programs available to municipalities, according to the release. Those include:
- a program funding “the construction, repair, and improvement of pavement and surface conditions on non-federally funded roadways, which would increase from $140 million to $165 million;”
- a program supporting “the design, engineering, construction, preservation, reconstruction and repair of, or improvements to, non-federally aided bridges, and would increase from $125 million to $150 million;”
- a program providing “technical assistance and construction funding to eligible municipalities seeking to provide safe and accessible travel mode options for people of all ages and abilities, and would increase from $80 million to $105 million;”
- “municipal grants for bus-focused mass transit initiatives, which would increase from $75 million to $100 million;”
- “municipal grants for accessibility improvements at mass transit and commuter rail stations, which would increase from $75 million to $100 million;”
- “funding assistance for municipalities to facilitate the transition to electric and zero emission vehicles, which would increase from $50 million to $75 million.”
House Bill 3547 will now go to the Senate for consideration.
