Traffic congestion is getting worse and crippling our communities, said Monica Tibbits-Nutt, Secretary of MassDOT, at a Charles River Regional Chamber forum on May 14. She said that it’s not exactly clear why traffic is getting worse, but her best guess is “people are causing a lot of traffic accidents” and are living farther away from work due to high housing costs.
Secretary Tibbits-Nutt said that most of the State’s transportation plans are old and do not account for post-COVID traffic changes (increased working from home, delivery services, etc.) or weather changes. She noted that MassDOT spent $28 million to repair Leominster’s transportation infrastructure after a recent heavy rainstorm. This work had to be done and was completed in 48 hours, but it had not been anticipated in the current planning model.
MassDOT is building a strategic plan, Beyond Mobility, to assess what the department does, how it is funded, and what communities need. It is streamlining the transportation grant process for communities by providing “Grant Central” — a single website to search for grants and track grant applications so that grant money is used and does not go back into the general budget unused at the end of the year. She noted that State law mandates money raised from tolls can be spent only on the tolled roadway (Massachusetts Turnpike).
Secretary Tibbits-Nutt expressed pride that the MBTA Board recently approved low-income fares. She said that both Cape Cod bridges will be rebuilt, but the designs need to be refined. Rail use in Massachusetts is running at 90% of pre-COVID levels, the highest in the nation. Rail in the state is being fixed at a new, faster pace.
She said that the Newtonville Commuter Rail station will be one of the first stations to be redone. When City Councilor Susan Albright asked, “Are you going to build it, or just design it?”, the Secretary said, “We’re not going to do the design and not actually finish it. …Yes, it’s going to get built.” The Newtonville station design costs are in the State’s 5-year Capital Investment Plan (CIP). Building costs cannot be added to the CIP until after the design is finished. (She did not discuss the Federal Grant application for funding Newtonville CR building costs and what would happen if the State does not receive it.)
When asked what can be done to improve bicycling safety, Secretary Tibbits-Nutt said the situation is difficult. MassDOT is limited by Federal government rules, but it is building shared-use paths and working to connect paths across communities. The department is aware of conflicts between bicyclists and pedestrians and is working with the cyclist community to find ways to slow bikes on shared-use paths. She did not address a question about the problem of bike lanes abruptly ending on streets.
Secretary Tibbits-Nutt said electrifying buses and trains will take more than ten years. The State is looking into bulk purchasing land to help communities find space for electric infrastructure, such as charging stations for school buses and public vehicles.
Secretary Tibbits-Nutt warned that the next decade will be difficult, with many changes in the transportation system before it becomes “a beautiful system where young people can stay and young people can come home.”
A recording of the event is available on NewTV.
[UPDATE] The day after Secretary Tibbits-Nutt’s talk, Mayor Ruthanne Fuller sent a letter to MBTA General Manager Philip Eng to emphasize the need for construction funding for the Newtonville Commuter Rail Station to be included in the MBTA’s 5-year Capital Investment Plan.
Ed. Note: We updated this article to include information about Mayor Fuller’s letter to MBTA General Manager the day after Secretary Tibbits-Nutt’s talk.