Top transportation officials estimated they will need hundreds of millions of dollars to fix glaring safety issues at the MBTA and defended the agency’s transparency as they faced probing questions at the outset of a legislative oversight hearing.
The public sector is feeling the strain of soaring inflation, too: officials now expect that a once-in-a-generation infrastructure overhaul in Allston will cost $300 million more than estimated, and the price of replacing the Cape Cod bridges could more than double.
Gov. Charlie Baker has linked his $9.7 billion infrastructure bond bill to efforts to limit the impact of climate change and reduce its disproportionate impacts on certain populations, but one environmental advocate told lawmakers Tuesday that the proposal’s language “fall(s) short on these priorities.”
