Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company The Boston
Globe
December 9, 2002, Monday ,THIRD EDITION
SECTION: METRO/REGION; Pg. A1
LENGTH: 1182 words
HEADLINE:
TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS IDLE BEHIND BIG DIG
BYLINE: By Anthony Flint, and Mac Daniel, Globe Staff
BODY: Securing federal funding for
transportation projects in Massachusetts is likely to be more difficult than
ever in the years ahead due to shifting policies in Washington, a bad taste left
by the Big Dig, and the lack of a long-term plan that reflects desired growth in
the state, planners, lobbyists, and politicians say.
The grim outlook comes as Congress begins the process for reauthorizing
the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century, or TEA-21, the main funding
mechanism for transportation projects that gets set every six years.
Anticipating severely constrained resources, civic and business leaders are
urging Governor-elect Mitt Romney to help organize the current hodgepodge of
post-Big Dig transportation projects into a more rational blueprint.
"We need a strategy for the next 5-10
years, that connects transportation to economic development," said William
Guenther, president of Mass Insight Corp., which convened a private seminar for
Romney transition team members on the subject last week. "We've basically been
jury-rigging ourselves through the process."
Many
planners believe the state is at a moment similar to 1970, when the Boston
Transportation Planning Review, formed by Governor Francis W. Sargent, produced
a detailed vision for roadway and transit projects for the ensuing decades.
Through the 1980s and 1990s, the Big Dig dominated
transportation planning and soaked up hundreds of millions in funding each year.
But while the bills are not all paid, the $14.4 billion project is nearing
completion, raising the question of what comes next.
Major projects awaiting funding include the $2 billion Urban Ring, the
proposed transit line around Boston; the extension of the Green Line through
Somerville and new downtown links for the Blue Line; tunnels to create a
"one-seat ride" on the Silver Line from Dudley Station to Logan Airport; lane
additions for Route 3 and Route 128; the reconstruction of Rutherford Avenue in
Charlestown; the realignment of the Route 128 and Interstate 93 interchange; and
hundreds of capital projects in dozens of cities and towns, as well as badly
needed maintenance for roads and bridges.
Since the
last reauthorization of TEA-21 in 1997, Massachusetts has been getting about
$557 million in federal transportation funds annually, a one-third reduction
from previous years. A portion of the state's share goes to pay for the Big Dig,
and the remainder is spent on roads and bridges throughout the state.
Competition for federal funds will intensify, in part
because the overall level of funding is not expected to increase, said Jack
Basso of the American Association of State Highway and Transit Officials.
States that contribute to the highway trust fund through
the gas tax also expect to get an equivalent amount of funding back, Basso
added.
In contrast to the clout wielded by the late
Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill Jr. as speaker of a Democratic House, the Bay State's
sole representative on the Republican-controlled House transportation committee
is congressman Michael E. Capuano, the Democrat from Somerville.
Moreover, Massachusetts is in an especially bad position because of
cost overruns on the Big Dig, and the general impression that the state has
already been given billions in aid for a major transportation project and does
not deserve much more.
"The political problems created
by the Big Dig are real and they are serious," said Capuano.
That legacy makes the need for clear priorities and planning more
urgent, said Rick Dimino, head of the Artery Business Committee, a downtown
business group that cosponsored a discussion of TEA-21 last week, along with the
Construction Industries of Massachusetts and FH/GPC, the public relations firm
headed by Thomas P. O'Neill III.
"We need to catch up -
other states have been developing position papers for the last two years,"
Dimino said. "Romney needs to make this a priority. We need to speak with one
voice."
Romney said during the fall campaign that he
would seek to coordinate transportation and development plans.
The rationale for major transportation projects is currently spelled
out in an obscure process led by 13 "metropolitan planning organizations," the
largest and most influential one representing Greater Boston. Every three years,
the MPO develops a regional transportation plan (which is available on the
Internet at www.bostonmpo.org), a grab bag of long-range plans and needs.
Specific projects awaiting funding are listed in the Transportation Improvement
Program.
Objective data is provided by the Central
Transportation Planning Staff, a number-crunching agency that has had a low
profile since William F. Weld was governor.
Marc
Draisen, the new head of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, acknowledged
that the "transportation planning process is obscure and complicated." More
public input is being sought to make the process more straightforward, he said,
starting with the development of more predictable criteria for getting on the
Transportation Improvement Program list.
Draisen would
not comment on past regional transportation plans, which have been criticized as
vague and lacking breadth. The next plan, which should be adopted by fall of
2003, potentially about the time TEA-21 is reauthorized, will be a more
sophisticated and more "transparent" blueprint for regional transportation
priorities, he said.
But it's up to the Romney
administration to develop a statewide plan, he said, that integrates
transportation projects with the areas where the administration wants
development to go.
"The new administration is never
going to get a real handle on our traffic problems, if they don't come to grips
with issues of land development. It's not just how fast we grow, but where and
how we grow," Draisen said. "They have the opportunity to develop a plan that
connects the dots between transportation and land use and housing, and put some
teeth behind those connections."
One example of pushing
a growth policy through transportation would be to prioritize new transit
stations in established urban areas with opportunities for residential
development within walking distance, he said. A transportation plan can
effectively become a document for smart growth, Draisen said.
Better planning would also help make the case that federal funding will
be wisely spent, he said.
"Like most decisions in
Washington, it's going to be a combination of policy and politics," referring to
the reauthorization process. "But a rational plan always helps."
The state transportation secretary, Kevin J.
Sullivan, agreed that the post-Big Dig transportation picture in Massachusetts
needs to be more clearly articulated. He said the state should not "apologize
for the Big Dig" and instead should keep dreaming big.
"The one thing we can't do," Sullivan said, "is lose our nerve."
Anthony Flint can be reached at flint@globe.com. SIDEBAR:
PROPOSED PROJECTS
SEVERAL MAJOR TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS
IN THE BOSTON AREA AWAITING FEDERAL FUNDING:
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