BOSTON (WHDH) - Facing a congestion crisis, constant MBTA troubles and crumbling roads, Gov. Charlie Baker is pushing lawmakers to approve his $18 billion transportation bond bill.
At a hearing at the State House Tuesday, Baker and other officials made the case for heavy spending on highway, pavement, and MBTA projects, along with supporting other initiatives like tax incentives for businesses that let people work from home.
“We have enviable problems,” Baker said. “Our economy is growing, our population is growing and the economic activity that dominates our commonwealth is constrained by the limits of our current system.”
“Only 62 percent of MassDOT-owned roads are in good or excellent condition and municipally-owned roads are in even worse shape,” said MassDOT Secretary Stephanie Pollack. “This legislation would enclose the funding gap identified.”
Baker also wants to expand designated bus lanes and create a program to cut bottlenecks on local roads. And he referred to the findings of a congestion study unveiled this past summer that found adding so-called managed lanes, or paid travel lanes on highways, as another tool that could be used.
“If done right these lanes give a quicker trip to the people paying for the lane, as well as other users, buses and vanpools, and also drivers in regular lanes that don’t have to deal with the traffic that is now moving into traffic or managed lanes,” Baker said.
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