Thursday, 4:30 PM
Analyst: state transportation system headed for disaster
By Mac Daniel and Raja Mishra, Globe Staff
The Massachusetts transportation system is in deep distress, with nearly every agency facing operating deficits and unable to properly maintain or expand roads, bridges, or transit systems — a problem that cannot be solved without new revenues — a prominent budget analyst warned city and state officials Tuesday.
Michael J. Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, said he was startled by how bleak the outlook is for the state’s transportation budget. ‘‘We are seriously disinvesting in our transportation infrastructure at really an alarming rate,’’ Widmer told a forum sponsored by the taxpayers’ foundation and A Better City, a business group.
As the state has focused on the Big Dig, local highways and bridges have suffered. A recent report said on the Massachusetts Turnpike, 12 of the 489 bridges are rated as structurally deficient.
The more immediate concern, Widmer and other speakers at the forum warned, is that without transportation improvements, fewer businesses will come to Massachusetts and commuters will spend more time stuck in traffic.
Widmer said the state needs billions of dollars to cover the shortfall and fund major renovation and expansion projects. He said the state should consider raising the state’s annual borrowing limit from $1.25 billion to $1.5 billion. But the Romney administration has resisted increasing it ‘‘to maintain control over borrowing,’’ a spokesman said Tuesday.
Other speakers at the forum, held at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, suggested more tolls, private-public partnerships, or even privatizing some roads.
