Road and bridge funding granted to Shrewsbury and Westborough

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Shrewsbury/Westborough – State Representative Hannah Kane (R-Shrewsbury) announced that Shrewsbury and Westborough are respectively scheduled to receive $986,356 and $789,634 in funding assistance for local road and bridge repairs under the state’s Chapter 90 program.

The money was included in a $200 million bond authorization approved unanimously by the House of Representatives April 5. The bond bill must still be approved by the Senate and signed by Governor Charlie Baker before the funding is finalized.

“I’m pleased the House has taken steps to ensure that communities will have additional financial resources available to maintain local road and bridges,” Kane said. “The funding contained in this bond bill will help both Shrewsbury and Westborough address some of their most pressing transportation infrastructure needs.”

The state’s Chapter 90 program was established in 1973, and allocates funding on an annual basis to cities and towns using a formula based on the weighted average of a municipality’s population, employment, and total road miles. The funds are paid out as reimbursements to communities for qualifying infrastructure work.

Chapter 90 funds can be spent on a variety of municipal roadway projects, including resurfacing, drainage, sidewalks, guardrails, traffic control, right-of-way acquisition and street lighting. The funding can also be used for bikeways, landscaping and tree planting associated with certain projects, and for purchasing and maintaining certain road building machinery, equipment and tools.

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