I-Team

I-Team: Many Highway Projects Millions Over Budget

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BOSTON (WBZ) ― After the disasters of the Big Dig, you might expect our state highway department learned something about managing road projects and not wasting millions of your tax dollars.

But there's some bad news for you and every other taxpayer in Massachusetts.

In Lawrence, there's a section of a Massachusetts road project where the cost ballooned out of control.

The original price just to clear the way for a rerouted highway in the city was $3.4 million. The final cost was $16.4 million -- a 372 percent increase.

"I think that was an expensive lesson learned," said Massachusetts Highway Commissioner Luisa Paiewonsky.

No kidding, but a two month I-Team investigation has found that roadway in Lawrence is just one example of a much bigger problem -- a state highway department that's been pumping out projects over budget and not on time for years.

The numbers are staggering.

The I-Team found that 21 projects completed in the past three years came in more than 100 percent over budget.

The cost? About $100 million extra.

Of the almost 400 projects done since 2005, 84 percent required more time. Sixty-one per cent came in over budget.

"I don't think it's acceptable," said Paiewonsky.

So how did we end up with so many road and bridge projects not on time and not on budget? "Past administrations focused on getting projects out the door and into construction as soon as possible," explains Paiewonsky.

In other words, there was not enough planning.

It's what happened in Lawrence.

To straighten a small piece of roadway, an abandoned paper mill had to be demolished. It was filled with asbestos and PCB's.

"They, uh, knew it was dangerous," answered former Highway Commissioner and Secretary of Transportation Kevin Sullivan when asked if everyone knew what the paper mill was filled with.

But the highway department failed to figure out how contaminated the site really was before putting the project out to bid. "Well, it think, obviously, we all bear responsibility," said Sullivan. "But I was a proponent for the project."

Sullivan was also the former mayor of Lawrence and he wanted the project done. "Could we have saved some by doing it a little more deliberately? Probably…Yeah…I'll concede that."

The highway department says its focus is now more pre-planning. "This should have been in place a long, long time ago," said Chief engineer Frank Tramontozzi.

Another problem is the highway department projects, like the one to clean and paint a bridge in East Boston. The starting cost was estimated at about $3 million, but the final cost skyrocketed to $11 million.

Why the increase? Lots of other work was added in along the way, but the expanded work was never put out for bid.

"The concern would be that the projects were not appropriately planned and bid competitively to make sure that the best price for the work was received in terms of spending the taxpayers dollars," said Phillip Shucet, who ran the Virginia Transportation Department.

"We're ending the practice," said Paiewonsky.

That's the promise, but, in the meantime, how closely is the commissioner monitoring the highway department's 500 projects currently underway?

"How many are already over budget?" asked Bergantino.

"I can't tell you off the top of my head," answered Paiewonsky.

"Shouldn't you know that?"

"Yeah. I think the numbers are a similar to the ones on the paper in front of you."

That means the highway department estimates about 61 per cent of current projects are over budget -- not a good record, but the commissioner is promising to bring that number way down, and has invited WBZ to come back in a year and hold her accountable.

We'll do that.

Paiewonsky has been highway commissioner for almost three years. She blames the large number of over-budget projects on poor planning that dates back several years -- before she took over the agency. 

Want to comment on how the Highway Department manages your money, or have an example of that money being misspent, email us.

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