Tarr secures $500,000 for Wenham’s RT 22 Culvert in Transpo Bond Bill

BOSTON - Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr (R-Gloucester) has secured $500,000 in the Senate’s version of a transportation bond bill to repair a culvert located on Route 22 in the Town of Wenham.

The funds were included in a Transportation Bond Bill that authorizes more than $13 billion in capital spending over the next five years to fund improvements to the Commonwealth’s transportation system. The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 38-0 on March 6.

“Having the proper drainage on Route 22 is important not only to Wenham, but to our entire region,” said Senator Tarr.  “Yet without state assistance this would be a difficult project to fund within the town’s budget.  This funding authorization recognizes that reality, and will hopefully make the difference in moving the project forward.”

The $500,000 in bond funding will be used to pay for several components of Route 22’s structurally deficient culvert, which allows the passage of water from the Miles River to flow underneath the roadway.  Those components include:

·         Replacing the culvert with a new single barrel reinforced concrete box structure to better allow the flow of water;

·         Removing and replacing the culvert headwalls at both the upstream and downstream ends; and

·         Creating a sidewalk to allow pedestrians to cross the bridge without entering the roadway;

In addition to upgrading the culvert, the Senate’s version of the Transportation Bond Bill also authorizes $1.5 billion in spending over the next five years for the Chapter 90 program, which funds local road and bridge projects.  The bill also requires municipalities to be notified of their Chapter 90 appropriation before March 1 of each year.  Wenham’s Chapter 90 allotment for Fiscal Year 2014 was $152,178.

Through the efforts of State Representative Brad Hill (R-Ipswich), the $500,000 culvert project is also contained in the House’s version of the transportation bond bill, which was passed in January.  A six-member House-Senate conference committee will now be named to work out the differences between the two bond bills.  Senator Tarr plans to work closely with the conferees to ensure that Wenham’s funding is retained in the final version of the bill.