By Tiffany Williams –
BOSTON — Governor Maura Healey delivered a major boost to municipal transportation and local aid during her remarks at the Massachusetts Municipal Association Connect 351 Annual Conference, unveiling a four-year, $1.2 billion Chapter 90 authorization and a new program aimed at speeding up municipal bridge repairs. The moves represent a direct effort to shore up local infrastructure while addressing growing costs facing cities and towns.
The proposed Chapter 90 bill would provide $300 million annually over four years for critical transportation projects, preserving a 50 percent increase in funding established last year. In tandem, the new Funding for Accelerated Infrastructure Repair (FAIR) program will leverage Fair Share revenue to help municipalities tackle backlogs in bridge maintenance and reopen closed structures, starting with projects in Western Massachusetts. Repairs include critical steel and concrete work on a bridge over the Chickley River in Hawley.
“Every city and town in the state will be able to upgrade roads and bridges, make sure every child is getting a high-quality education, support our veterans and deliver other critical services that people rely on,” said Governor Healey. “We have launched a new program to speed up repairs on municipal bridges so that construction gets done faster and cheaper, and traffic can get moving again.”
Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll emphasized the importance of local-state collaboration, saying, “Governor Healey and I believe deeply that a strong local-state partnership is key to a strong Massachusetts. We will continue to work closely with our local leaders to help them deliver for their communities.”
FAIR aims to reduce administrative burdens while providing dedicated funding, allowing municipalities to move quickly on bridge projects before deterioration becomes costlier and more disruptive. The program’s equitable approach prioritizes bridges in communities that might otherwise struggle to secure repairs, with MassDOT officials noting that closed or restricted bridges impact both public safety and mobility.
Chapter 90 funding would also support $200 million for transportation improvements tied to new housing development, a $200 million Parkway Resilience Improvement and Safety Modernization (PRISM) program, $500 million to accelerate MassDOT’s Bridge and Pavement Lifecycle Asset Management Programs, and $200 million for MBTA rail reliability and vehicle renewal projects. Additional allocations include $3.2 billion to continue projects from the 2022 transportation bond bill.
On the local aid front, Governor Healey’s FY27 budget proposes a 4.4 percent increase, totaling more than $10.4 billion for cities and towns. The budget fully funds the sixth year of the Student Opportunity Act with $7.6 billion in Chapter 70 aid, expands school transportation funding by $154.3 million, and boosts Rural School Aid by $8 million to a total of $20 million. Special education costs will also be fully funded at $802.7 million, including out-of-district transportation reimbursements.
Officials framed the funding surge as critical to helping municipalities manage rising costs and deliver essential services. “The Commonwealth’s transportation network is the fundamental link connecting us to work, school, family, and friends, and thanks to the leadership of the Healey-Driscoll Administration, this infusion of funding will target infrastructure with the greatest need,” said Undersecretary and State Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver.
The Governor’s proposal signals an aggressive push to modernize Massachusetts’ infrastructure, accelerate municipal bridge repairs, and deliver long-term certainty for local transportation planning.