Staging was placed along the Route 112 Bridge in Huntington earlier this year to assist contractors in the raising of the structure which will allow double stacked rail cars to pass through safely. (File photo by chief photographer Frederick Gore)
HUNTINGTON – The Route 112 Bridge over the Westfield River in Huntington center is getting some much needed repairs, and a lift.
The bridge is currently being raised at a cost of $4.9 million, which is being funded by the state, as part of an effort to raise older bridges across the Commonwealth.
“They are elevating highway bridges over railroad tracks to allow for double stacked rail,” said Dana Roscoe of the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission.
Late last week, Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray attended a signing at the White House of a $105 billion transportation bill, of which Massachusetts will receive $1.2 billion over two years for highway and transit. Murray joined President Barack Obama for the signing of the Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2012. The legislation will create jobs in Massachusetts and across the country repairing the nation’s aging roads and bridges. Once signed by Obama, the new law authorizes $105 billion in funding for highway and transit programs through Fiscal Year 2014. Of the $105 billion, Massachusetts will receive nearly $1.2 billion in federal highway funds over the next two years to modernize the Commonwealth’s highways and bridges. Additionally, Massachusetts is expected to receive more than $345 million per year in transit funding compared to the approximately $300 million Massachusetts received this year.
Of those funds, $4.8 million are earmarked for work on the Huntington bridge, in addition to the work currently underway.
“This is rehabilitation and replacement,” Roscoe said.
Nearly $1.2 billion in federal highway funding allocated to Massachusetts will provide the Patrick-Murray Administration with critical financial support to invest in highway and bridge projects across all regions of the Commonwealth. The funding will also stimulate job creation in Massachusetts, directly adding approximately 11,000 new highway construction jobs per year. Program funds from the Federal Highway Administration account for well over half of the Administration’s total investment in the Commonwealth’s road and bridges. Additionally, through allocated federal transit funding from the Surface Transportation Extension Act, the Administration will be able to continue to invest in the Commonwealth’s 15 regional transit authorities and the MBTA, improving mobility for residents in Massachusetts’ Gateway Cities, seniors and persons with disabilities.
“Governor Patrick and I have worked closely with our state legislature and congressional delegation to provide the tools and resources needed to create jobs and improve infrastructure in cities and towns across the Commonwealth,” said Murray, chairman-elect of the National Lieutenant Governors Association. “The passage and signing of the Surface Transportation Extension Act is critical to these efforts because it will fund substantial highway and transit projects in our communities. The Governor and I thank President Obama for his leadership on this issue, as well as Congress for working together in a bi-partisan fashion to pass this important legislation. We have projects ready to go throughout Massachusetts that will put people to work and improve our highway, road, rail, and bridge infrastructure across the state.”
