Representative Steven S. Howitt supports state funding for municipal road and bridge repairs

$300M Chapter 90 appropriation approved for cities and towns

Boston – The House and Senate have authorized a $300 million Chapter 90 appropriation for cities and towns to assist with municipal road and bridge repairs, with the support of State Representative Steven S. Howitt (R-Seekonk).

The funding was included as part of a $4.58 billion transportation bond bill enacted in both branches on June 4. The bill is now before Governor Maura Healey for her review, with a June 14 deadline to sign the bill into law.

House Bill 5375, An Act financing long-term improvements to municipal roads and bridges, allocates $200 million in Chapter 90 funding for Fiscal Year 2027 using the program’s traditional weighted formula that is based on a community’s local road mileage (58.33%), population (20.83%), and employment levels (20.83%). An additional $100 million will be distributed to cities and towns based solely on a community’s local road mileage to ensure that rural communities with smaller populations receive their fair share of state funding assistance to help maintain their local transportation infrastructure.

Established by the Legislature in 1973, the Chapter 90 program offers state funding assistance to cities and towns on a reimbursable basis to help pay for maintaining roads, bridges and sidewalks. Representative Howitt said these towns in the district are slated to receive funding for FY27 under the bill as follows:
• Norton, $860,247.73
• Rehoboth, $1,076,533.47
• Seekonk, $917,139.72
• Swansea, $906,796.63

In addition to the Chapter 90 funding, House Bill 5375 also includes:

• $500 million for the bridge and pavement lifecycle asset management program;
• $200 million for transportation capital projects;
• $200 million for the Parkway Resilience Improvement and Safety Modernization (PRISM) program, which provides accelerated deferred maintenance, modernization, and safety improvements for multi-modal transportation infrastructure under the control of the Department of Conservation and Recreation; and
• $200 million for the implementation of rail improvements, including the design and acquisition of commuter rail locomotives.

Representative Howitt noted that House Bill 5375 also reauthorizes $3 billion in funding for several transportation-related initiatives that were previously approved under the 2022 transportation bond bill. This includes funding for:

• interstate and non-interstate federal highway system projects;
• non-federally aided roadway and bridge projects, and the non-participating share of federally aided projects;
• municipal roadway pavement and surface condition improvements; and
• the public realm improvement program, which supports grants to municipalities for improvements to sidewalks, streets and parking spaces to create additional capacity for pedestrians and cyclists.