CHELSEA/EAST BOSTON – Monday, March 16, 2009 – With the 73-year-old structurally-deficient Chelsea Street Bridge serving as a backdrop, Governor Deval Patrick today unveiled his Massachusetts Recovery Plan, highlighting how integrating state, federal and private investments will put people back to work today on critical projects, speed the state’s recovery and ultimately secure our common economic future.
In keeping with his Administration’s nearly $10 billion commitment to fixing the state’s crumbling transportation network, Governor Patrick announced his team has started construction on the $125 million project to replace the vertical drawbridge over the Chelsea Creek which connects Boston and Chelsea. Federal, state and municipal officials hailed the Chelsea Street Bridge project as a major victory for the local community and regional economy, noting the project will create or maintain 150 jobs, enhance community access and improve public safety by expanding tanker clearance.
«The unprecedented economic challenges confronting our Commonwealth have made the mission of government clear – we must secure our common economic future,» said Governor Patrick. «Our Massachusetts Recovery Plan will integrate state, federal and private resources so we can deliver immediate relief and long-term solutions. The Chelsea Street Bridge reconstruction is just one way to create and sustain the jobs and the opportunities that will move our people and our economy forward once again.»
The Massachusetts Recovery Plan will combine state, federal and, where possible, private efforts to provide immediate and long-term relief and position the Commonwealth for recovery in the following ways:
* Deliver immediate relief by investing in the road, bridge and rail projects that put people to work today and providing safety net services that sustain people who are especially vulnerable during an economic crisis;
* Build a better tomorrow through education and infrastructure investments that strengthen our economic competitiveness, prepare workers for the jobs of the future and support clean energy, broadband and technology projects that cut costs while growing the economy; and
* Reform state government by eliminating the pension and ethics loopholes that discredit the work of government and revitalize the transportation networks that have suffered from decades of neglect and inaction.
The Plan comes as Massachusetts is poised to receive between $6-$9 billion over two years through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for transportation, education, health care, housing, public safety and other critical programs. In the last two weeks, the federal government granted the state the authority to spend $437.9 million on transportation projects through federal highway funds, with $153.2 million of that funding committed to «shovel-ready» projects. Two days ago, the Patrick Administration put the first eight recovery projects out to bid, dedicating an estimated total of approximately $30 million for infrastructure improvements in every region of the state.
Federal recovery funds will enhance the Patrick Administration’s ongoing efforts to address a legacy of neglect that has created a $15-$19 billion funding gap for the state’s transportation network. In the last two years, the Administration, working with the Legislature, has approved nearly $10 billion for road, bridge and transit projects through Transportation Bond bills and an historic eight-year Accelerated Bridge Repair Program. The Chelsea Street Bridge, one of the state’s largest reconstruction projects, stands as a prime example of the effectiveness of these capital initiatives, and previews the work that will take place across Massachusetts in 2009.
«The Chelsea Street
