Most MA Road & Bridge Projects Take 7-10+ Years to Complete

The project delivery process involves the development, implementation and maintenance of a road, bridge or transit project during the asset's useful life, managing multiple planning, design and construction issues along the way.  

The average time to deliver a road or bridge project owned by the Commonwealth of Mass. is taking 7-10+ years.  This is completely unacceptable. 

I started my political career calling for drastic reform at our transportation agencies, including the acceleration of all Route 2 reconstruction projects. (My first job working for MassHighway was on a mega-project in Worcester whose total budget exceeded Rhode Island's annual appropriation for snow and ice).

Bringing performance based management, improved maintenance and on-time project delivery - while reforming the MA agencies involved in road, bridge and MBTA jobs is central to our Economic Recovery and to my 2012 campaign. I've already participated in this important reform work at MassDOT, and in the private sector, and I will use those experiences to get improved results for our communities.

We know some the reasons that state jobs are taking twice as long: environmental permitting, lack of coordination with utility companies and municipalities, poor procurement procedures, faulty design plans and incompetent project management.  

At the local level, town departments cannot even find the cheapest contractors to do even the simplest of painting jobs because of the over restrictive MA Prevailing Wage Law. Unlike my opponent, Jamie Eldridge, who needs to "study the issue" and get back to the Northborough Board of Selectmen, (by the end of April), I can unequivocally say today, that I will immediately file legislation next year to exempt local projects of $100,000 or less from prevailing wage restrictions.  Some have even suggested I make the threshold amount in my bill $250,000.

Another local example:the Houghton Street Bridge in Hudson has been closed inexplicably for over 8 years. You read that correctly: 8 years! Now that MassDOT has begun work on the adjacent Washington Street Bridge, the past failures of Project Delivery are coming back into focus, since Houghton is an important feeder road in proximity to the town's downtown business district.

As State Senator, I'll do much more than bi-annual check-ins with the MassDOT District 3 and 4 offices in Worcester and Arlington respectively.  Having worked at both locations, with multiple District Highway Directors and their staffs, I'll go to work with all officials on a tangible plan to speed up all state road, bridge and transit jobs, in all phases of development - for every single project impacting my fourteen communities.

Dean Cavaretta (R-Stow)

2012 Candidate for State Senate

www.MomsAndDadsForDean.com

www.DeanCavaretta.com 

Acton; Ayer; Boxborough; Harvard; Hudson; Littleton; Marlborough; Maynard; Northborough (3); Shirley; Southborough; Stow; Sudbury (2/3); and Westborough