Jul 23, 2007 11:00 pm US/Eastern
Where's The Money Slated For Mass. Highways Going?
by Joe Shortsleeve
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
Whether it's housing or taxes, we all know Massachusetts can be a costly place to live. Our roadways are among the most expensive to run in the country, but where does all the money go?
Driving on state roads in Massachusetts ought to be like flying first class instead of flying coach if you consider what you end up paying to use these highways.
A new report by the Reason Foundation, a non-partisan group, confirms what most of us probably think. We pay a lot to drive here.
It costs $60,000 for each mile of state highway just in administrative costs. That compares to $3,000 in Maine and $14,000 in Connecticut. We're second only to New Jersey when it comes to being most expensive.
It may seem unbelievable, but its true. State Sen. Steven Baddour is chairman of the Transportation Committee. "There are just way too many pet projects and sacred cows in transportation."
So where does all our money go? The first culprit is the Turnpike Authority -- a completely separate bureaucracy from the rest of our state highways. Then you have highly paid toll takers here. And we are the only state that requires police details at construction sites.
Details like this one that we found reading a paper at a Turnpike project. This law ends up costing the state an additional $22 million a year.
"Details cost more than the actual projects and Mass Highway has examples where it cost more in road details than it did to fix the transportation problem," said Baddour.
The Patrick administration was reluctant to talk about this report. Bernard Cohen, a cabinet member in charge of transportation reneged on a promised interview.
I went to the transportation building because the highway commissioner finally agreed to talk to me after more than a week of asking.
"Sixty-thousand dollars mile -- does that sound right to you?" I asked. "What can you do about it?"
"Well it certainly reflects the high cost environment and state where we do business," said State Highway Commissioner Luisa Paiewonsky. "We are looking for efficiencies."
The statehouse committee is currently working on a report to prioritize highway projects, and figure out how to pay for them.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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