State officials are racing to lock in federal funding amid concerns that the incoming Republican administration may try to punish the heavily Democratic Bay State — but stakeholders still can’t agree on aspects of the design.
One phrase was uttered over and over again Tuesday morning by the movers and shakers of Beacon Hill and D.C.: Who knew concrete was so exciting?
“We’re at the fiscal cliff,” the agency’s top budget official warned. That would mean the Legislature would have to pass some sort of revenue package for the T early in the year, or else the agency might be forced to start laying off workers
Transportation Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt had an unusual exchange with a MassDOT board member on Tuesday that raised questions about whether the Healey administration is serious about funding the $1.97 billion I-90 Allston project.
Speaking to the Charles River Chamber of Commerce Tuesday, the transportation secretary made it clear that the Healey administration isn’t pursuing more tolls. Still, she says, the issue of needing more revenue isn’t going away.
Transportation Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt found herself in an unfortunate political firestorm last week thanks to her willingness to say the truth: We should give a hard look at adding tolls to other highways in Massachusetts.
As the transportation secretary’s recent comments about imposing tolls for drivers crossing into Massachusetts continue to attract fire from political adversaries and a conservative watchdog group, they have also won a measure of support from one of the most powerful lawmakers on Beacon Hill.
Using frank language rarely heard on Beacon Hill, Tibbits-Nutt weighed in on a series of major policy issues, from raising more money for transportation, to traffic enforcement and a major unresolved design question for the MBTA’s in-planning West Station.
A $335 million federal funding award clears a “major, major hurdle” for an infrastructure megaproject in Allston that will provide long-awaited access to the Charles River waterfront and push the state closer to a westward passenger rail expansion, a top state official said Wednesday.
The last week shows progress is likely to be two steps forward and one step back given decades of neglected maintenance at the T and the NIMBY backlash to the Healey administration’s housing plans.
The dream of frequent, electrified suburban trains in Greater Boston has long seemed perennially on the horizon. Could this time be different? Indications are, yes. And housing developers should start keeping an eye on the project.
The Healey administration’s new Transportation Funding Task Force will be “looking at everything – congestion pricing, tolling, every single option there is” for state funding of roads and transit, the group’s chair said
In her first public appearance as transportation secretary, Monica Tibbits-Nutt laid out her vision Wednesday for a unified transportation system that helps address some of Massachusetts’ biggest problems, previewed a “hard, hard discussion” about more state money for the MBTA
One of the state’s top transportation experts is now Massachusetts’ top transportation official, a move one advocate praised as “an inspired choice.”
