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Senate Transportation panel backs 10-year plan with projects tied to passage of funding bill
Summary
The Senate Transportation Committee voted to report House Bill 20-26—the 10-year Transportation Improvement Plan—as ought to pass with two amendments: one to allow a land transfer to New Boston for a bridge easement and a committee amendment that restores Turnpike and regional projects contingent on Senate Bill 627 freeing funding.
The Senate Transportation Committee voted to report House Bill 20-26, the state’s 10-year Transportation Improvement Plan, as ought to pass with amendments after two days of executive-session consideration.
David Rodrigue, commissioner of the Department of Transportation, told the committee the New Boston bridge project is already scheduled in the current 10-year plan and is fully funded. “This bridge project’s actually in the current 10 year plan and scheduled to advertise this summer,” Rodrigue said, adding the proposed amendment would allow the state to secure necessary easements from the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources “without delay.”
Committee members approved amendment 1474, which was described by the Chair as a legislative fix that authorizes the transfer of state land acquired under the Land Conservation Investment Program to the town of New Boston so the town can reconstruct the Gregg Mill Road bridge; the Chair and Rodrigue said the change would not increase state costs and is intended to prevent a court delay.
Senator McDonough offered a committee amendment to restore a set of Turnpike and regional projects in the 10-year plan “in light of the passage of Senate Bill 627,” which the senator said would free up roughly $68,000,000 for regional highway projects and expedite several turnpike exit and regional projects. The panel voted to adopt the committee amendment and then voted that the bill ought to pass as amended.
Members also agreed not to place the bill on consent so that senators can speak on the record during floor debate. The committee recorded the amendments and the motion to report the bill as amended; the bill will move to the next step in the legislative process with the adopted changes.
The committee’s action keeps the bridge project on track for summer advertisement while making the inclusion of other projects contingent on the outcome of separate Senate legislation.
