Governor Healy proposes $8 billion, 10-year transportation plan at Medway Local 4 training center

Governor Healy announced at the Local 4 training center in Medway that her administration is proposing an $8 billion plan to repair and modernize roads, bridges and transit across Massachusetts over the next 10 years.

The governor said the proposal would “spend $8,000,000,000 over the next 10 years to help fix roads and bridges and build out the kind of transportation infrastructure we need all over this state,” and that the funding would support both safety and job creation. “We estimate with this transportation funding, we’re also gonna create 40,000 jobs, good paying, family sustaining jobs,” she said.

Why it matters: Healy tied the plan to local needs in communities such as Medway, saying the funds would help the state’s 351 cities and towns pay for repairs and upgrades they cannot afford on their own. She and administration officials emphasized that the plan depends on both state fiscal measures and continued federal funding.

Administration and labor leaders at the event described workforce training as central to delivering the work. Undersecretary of Transportation Hayes Morrison said, “When workers and the unions that represent them are strong, America is strong.” Local 4’s business manager, Mike Bowes (transcribed also as Mike Bose), said the union invests more than $5 million a year in training and that the Medway facility focuses on crane operation while a Canton site focuses on dirt equipment. “For Local 4, infrastructure dollars equals jobs,” Bowes said.

Local context and projects mentioned at the event included Medway’s spending of more than $10 million on roads and sidewalks since 2019; a $1.4 million MassWorks grant to redesign a stretch of Route 109 between Route 126 and the Milford town line; and a prior $12 million Route 109 revitalization that extended sidewalks through town. Officials also highlighted an 82-acre Oak Grove development area in Medway and a nearby battery energy storage project they described as a $210 million investment.

Administration officials said the proposal supplements federal funding the state has won. The governor said her administration had brought about $9 billion in federal dollars to Massachusetts for projects including rail and highway work. At the same time, Healy expressed concern about potential federal interruptions: she said recent freezes of federal funds and proposed tariffs could raise costs and that she planned to travel to Washington to press to keep funds flowing. “I’m gonna continue to advocate strongly on behalf of Massachusetts, our residents, our businesses, to make sure that that money continues to flow,” she said.

Officials described the plan’s priorities as improving safety, reducing congestion, increasing flood protections by repairing culverts, and strengthening regional transit authorities. Administrator Gulliver (agency not specified in the transcript) said the influx of funding would help take structurally deficient bridges off the list, noting Massachusetts has “a historic bridge system” that requires significant maintenance.

The event included remarks from labor leaders and local elected officials who emphasized apprenticeship and career pathways in the building trades. Frank Callahan of the Massachusetts building trades said apprenticeship programs provide career opportunities and quality-of-life benefits for workers. The administration said it expects the plan to require a substantial workforce; in addition to the governor’s 40,000 jobs estimate, she also said the state will need 140,000 workers to deliver the projects, naming skills from crane operators to electricians and surveyors.

No formal votes or final commitments were recorded at the event; the proposal must proceed through the legislative and budget processes. Officials from the administration and the legislature in attendance said they intend to continue working with lawmakers to move the funding proposal forward.