Congress Weighing Local Highway Requests
By Scott Brooks
WASHINGTON – Congress may distribute several million dollars this year to key South Coast highway projects, including long-discussed plans to relocate the New Bedford-Fairhaven Bridge.
Officials requested $1.5 million in federal money to move the century-old swing bridge, which some blame for persistent traffic jams and increased air pollution in the area.
The federal government also is weighing a request to assist New Bedford’s plans to redevelop the pathway around St. Luke’s Hospital. Washington would contribute $600,000 toward installing new technology in traffic signals around the hospital, a step advocates hope will aid paramedics coming to and from the facility.
The requests, submitted by Rep. Barney Frank, D-MA, and other Massachusetts lawmakers, are part of legislation being drafted to reauthorize a 1998 law that provides money for transportation projects nationwide. The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century, as it is known, expires in September.
Relocating the New Bedford-Fairhaven Bridge has been discussed for several decades. The $1.5 million federal allocation would pay for an environmental impact study to analyze the benefits and consequences of moving the structure.
Relocation advocates say the bridge is responsible for heavy commuter traffic delays each time it opens for passing ships. Ships, too, clog the harbor during stretches when the bridge remains closed.
The bridge opens more than 4,000 times a year, according to Rep. Frank, each time stopping traffic for 15 to 20 minutes. Rep. Frank also said the bridge’s swing mechanism is prone to breakdowns.
A New Bedford-Fairhaven master plan, approved by the state last fall, would move the bridge further north, where proponents say it would not have to open as often.
Alternative plans, according to New Bedford Solicitor Matthew Thomas, include eliminating the bridge entirely or replacing it with a new, less cumbersome drawbridge.
Mr. Thomas said the $600,000 to coordinate traffic lights outside St. Luke’s Hospital is part of a larger plan to make access to the hospital easier. The city also plans to resurface the roads to reduce bumps, a problem for ambulances carrying trauma patients.
Sometimes, Mr. Thomas said, ambulances have to approach the hospital at speeds as low as 10 mph.
“As you drive down the road, you definitely have to be careful,” he said. “We want to make sure it’s as safe as possible.”
The requests before Congress also include $15 million to pay for part of the design and construction of the Route 24-Route 140 interchange in Taunton, which is frequently congested. New Bedford commuters use the interchange heavily on their way to Boston.
Mr. Thomas said traffic along the ramp is a hazard for drivers. During the holidays, he said, traffic on the interchange can back up across the entire ramp, sometimes for almost a quarter of a mile.
Roland Hebert, transportation planning manager for the Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District, said the project is the most important in the region right now.
“This interchange is critical to the city of New Bedford,” he said. “It’s a very busy interchange, and it ties up once a week. It’s a very critical problem right now.”
Designs for the project have yet to start, but Mr. Hebert said they should be completed in six months.
Peter Kovar, Rep. Frank’s chief of staff, said the congressman’s requests represent just half of all needed funds for the projects.
“For most of these, we’re not asking for the full cost,” Mr. Kovar said. “The expectation is that money would come through the state and other sources, too.”
Rep. Frank submitted seven requests in all, including $13 million for a project to relocate Route 79 in Fall River. That project, considered a key part of the city’s plans to revitalize the waterfront, would convert the eight-lane highway into a four-lane, tree-lined boulevard.
Published in The New Bedford Standard Times, in Massachusetts.
