PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Contact: Lisa Estrela-Pedro at lestrela@srpedd.org for more info.

SRPEDD Announces a 21-day Public Comment Period and Virtual Public Meeting on Thursday, May 1, 2025, at 4:00 pm to hear comments on the release of the Draft FFY2026-2030 Transportation Improvement Program and Amendment #3 of the FFY2025-2029 TIP that includes several cost increases.

April 16, 2025 – The Draft FFY2026-2030 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) for Southeastern Massachusetts is being released to a 21-day public comment period. The TIP is the programming document listing all federally funded road and bridge projects in the region and all transit projects for both the Greater Attleboro and Taunton Regional Transit Authority (GATRA) and the Southeastern Regional Transit Authority (SRTA) over five years. Each year, the Southeastern Massachusetts Metropolitan Planning Organization (SMMPO) decides how to allocate about $30 million  in regional target funding, which supplements state and local transportation infrastructure investments in Southeastern Massachusetts.

In the FFY 2026-2030 TIP, the SMMPO is programming $148,440,663 in regional target funds for 17 projects over these five years. They include projects for improvements such as pedestrian and bicycle facilities, traffic signals, lighting, drainage infrastructure, and mobility for emergency vehicles, which are expected to result in increased safety and access, reduced congestion, and improved system efficiency and infrastructure conditions for all modes. Communities that have projects programmed for construction in this cycle include Lakeville, Mattapoisett, Wareham (2 projects), Dartmouth (3 projects), Middleboro, Plainville, Norton, New Bedford (3 projects), Westport, Mansfield, Attleboro, and Taunton. Several of these projects were shifted to be programmed for construction in later years due to delays in design plan readiness and/or cost increases. Taunton’s intersection improvements at Winthrop Street and Highland Street is the only new project being programmed in this funding cycle.

Additionally, the FFY2025-2029 TIP is being amended due to cost increases of three projects. Lakeville’s reconstruction of Rhode Island Road (Route 79) is increasing in cost due to hazardous material disposal, additional water main relocation work, and unit cost escalations; this project spans several years and part of the cost increase ($724,497) will be programmed as Advance Construction during FFY 2025 and 2026 in order to maintain fiscal constraint on the TIP. Project 609255 for multimodal accommodations on Mansfield’s School Street is increasing from $3,497,732 to $5,045,214 due to accommodations for drainage issues and cost increases for hazardous material disposal. Project 613052 for corridor improvements on Mansfield’s Chauncy Street (Route 106) from State Road (Route 140) to Copeland Drive is increasing from $1,499,313 to $3,615,201 due to a cost increase with the 75% design submission and a utility relocation cost estimate which increased from $9,232,330 to $11,348,218. Dartmouth’s Project 607871, which programs corridor improvements on Route 6 from Faunce Corner Road to Hathaway Road, is being removed from the FY2025-2029 TIP entirely, but will be programmed in FY2026 of the FY2026-2030 TIP,  to allow the 2025-2029 TIP to remain fiscally constrained.

A virtual public meeting on this amendment will be held remotely on Thursday, May 1, 2025, at 4:00 pm. Everyone is welcome to attend, ask questions and offer comments, but attendance is not necessary to offer input or comment. More options to offer comments can be found below.

The meeting will be conducted through the ZOOM app. This link provides the information to allow participants to connect to the meeting through a computer, smart phone or regular telephone: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/categories/200101697.

The direct link to the public meeting:  https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_JsrzDWLmTiCwKZl7oPAoZQ

Meeting ID: 836 4938 5813

Meeting Password: 083246

The Draft FFY26-30 TIP and FFY25-29 TIP Amendment #3 will have a 21-day public comment period and will be endorsed at the next SMMPO meeting which is scheduled for May 20th. More detailed information on the Draft FFY2026-2030 TIP and FFY25-29 TIP Amendment #3 can be found on SRPEDD’s website www.srpedd.org at the following links: Draft FFY2026-2030 TIP and  FFY2025-2029 TIP Amendment #3.

Comments are encouraged and may be offered by a variety of methods including: via e-mail at lestrela@srpedd.org; our website at https://srpedd.org/contact-us/; our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/SRPEDD/; or Twitter @SRPEDD_NEWS at https://twitter.com/SRPEDD_NEWS

The SMMPO, through SRPEDD, provides reasonable accommodations, including language assistance and/or auxiliary aids and services free of charge, upon request and as available. For accommodation or language assistance, please contact SRPEDD’s Title VI Coordinator by phone (508 824-1367), dial 711 to use MassRelay, or by email at aduarte@srpedd.org. Requests should be made as soon as possible prior to the meeting.

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