Thursday, 4:30 PM
Patrick: state must begin solving transportation woes highlighted in report
By Mac Daniel, Globe Staff
Governor Deval Patrick said this afternoon that the dire findings of a long-awaited report about the state's crumbling roads, bridges, and transit systems should renew a focus on fixing transportation infrastructure in Massachusetts.
"We can no longer defer or delay," Patrick said in a statement issued this afternoon by his office. "We must begin solving our transportation troubles now if are to succeed in a global economy."
The report, issued today, found that the transportation systems are in such deep financial trouble that unless the problem is fixed, the impact could have dire consequences for the local economy. So bleak is the situation that toll increases on the Massachusetts Turnpike may have to be higher than the planned 25 percent and take place this year, not next, the report says.
"Our findings paint a dire picture," says the long-awaited report from the Transportation Finance Commission, a bipartisan group created by the Legislature more than two years ago to provide a comprehensive and apolitical evaluation of the states transportation needs over the next three decades.
"We need to grasp the enormity of the problem that we face, recognize that 'business as usual' will not suffice, and work together to develop sustainable solutions for our transportation system," the report says.
Overall, the commission is predicting at least a $15 billion to $19 billion shortfall in funding for transportation over the next 20 years. It says the state must act quickly to solve the problem or "the billions we have spent over the last century on highways and transit systems will literally crumble."
Bernard Cohen, the state Secretary of Transportation, said today in a statement that the report should serve as a wake-up call.
"What this bipartisan panel found, after more than two years of investigation, is that there is a significant gap between the financial resources we have and the resources we need, just to keep the system in good working condition," Cohen said.
Patrick asked government officials and business leaders to review today's findings and work together on innovative, long-term solutions to fix the problems.
