Haggerty supports $437,463 in Winter Recovery Assistance Program funding for Woburn’s roadways

BOSTON –State Representative Richard M. Haggerty (D-Woburn) recently supported a supplemental spending bill that will provide the City of Woburn with $437,463 in additional state-funded road assistance.

“I was pleased to support these resources that will help our community repair local roadways from the ravages of winter,” said Representative Haggerty, “I strongly support continuing to direct aid to our cities and towns so they can restore neighborhood streets and make them safe for vehicles and pedestrians alike.”

Woburn is slated to receive the money as part of a $100 million Winter Recovery Assistance Program (WRAP) initiative included in House Bill 4578, an FY22 supplemental budget that was initially approved by the House on March 9 and by the Senate on March 24. A final version of the bill was enacted in both branches on March 31 and signed into law by Governor Charlie Baker on April 1.

Administered by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, the WRAP money can be used for projects such as reconstructing, resurfacing, and striping roads, as well as for repairing or replacing traffic lights, signage, guardrails and storm grates.

The House of Representatives just recently approved a $350 million bond bill to help maintain municipal roads and bridges under the state’s Chapter 90 program and to provide additional funding for several transportation-related grant programs, including the Municipal Small Bridge Program and the Complete Streets Program. That bill, House Bill 4638, is now before the Senate, which is expected to act on it soon.

Although Chapter 90 funding is allocated using a formula that calculates the weighted average of a community’s local road mileage, population and employment, the WRAP funding is being distributed to communities using a formula based strictly on local road miles.