BOSTON - As repairs to hundreds of bridges across the state are delayed for lack of money, state Sen. Steven Baddour, D-Methuen, is calling for the state to focus on bridge maintenance rather than new transportation projects.
Baddour, co-chairman of the Legislature's Transportation Committee, said the state should establish a "bridge preservation fund" to make basic repairs to bridges.
"At the end of the day, we can't let these bridges collapse," Baddour said in a meeting of editors of The Eagle-Tribune.
To pay for it, Baddour would steer about $175 million from several Boston-area projects that would be funded by Gov. Deval Patrick's $2.9 billion transportation bond bill, which is before his committee. The new fund would help finance repairs to dozens of roads and bridges north of Boston, Baddour said.
Some of the projects Baddour would divert money from include extensions of the MBTA Green and Blue subway lines, the New Bedford commuter rail project and the so-called urban ring that would connect cities and towns along Route 128 with public transportation. Baddour said there's no harm in delaying funding those projects because they don't need the money right away or as urgently as the bridges do.
Dennis DiZoglio, executive director of the Merrimack Valley Planning Commission, said the state shouldn't be trying to add to its transportation infrastructure when it can't repair what it already has.
"If you're expanding your home," DiZoglio asked, "do you add onto the house or do you fix the roof that needs to be replaced?"
Patrick administration Transportation Secretary Bernard Cohen said Baddour's proposal was unnecessary and that bridge work and new projects can be done simultaneously.
Baddour earlier this month raised his concerns to Cohen. In a Jan. 24 letter to Baddour, forwarded to The Eagle-Tribune, Cohen said the bond bill contains $1.3 billion in state money for bridge repairs, which would leverage another $3.2 billion in federal money. He also pointed out that the state cannot delay funding projects such as the Green Line extension, which is legally obligated to start.
Baddour's proposal comes as state officials search for ways to pay for road and bridge repairs. The Transportation Finance Commission found that over the next two decades, it would cost between $15 billion and $19 billion to maintain the state's current transportation system.
On Tuesday, state Treasurer Timothy Cahill proposed borrowing $600 million against future federal highway funds to begin repairs this year on the state's 10 most expensive bridges to fix. Those include the Whittier Bridge, which carries Interstate 95 over the Merrimack River in Amesbury, at a cost of $132 million, and the Bates Bridge, Route 113, connecting Haverhill and Groveland, at a cost of $75 million.
For its part, the commission recommended 22 reforms that would save the state money. It also said the state should increase the gas tax.
Baddour said the cost-saving measures should be adopted before the state goes ahead with plans for new revenues, including increasing the gas tax, which he opposes.
"There are those who say we should do reform and revenue," Baddour said. "I'm not one of them. I know how (the Statehouse) works."
