FROED One Government Center Fall River, MA 02722-7700 Tel 508-324-2620 Fax 508-677-2840 info@froed.org		BILL MAY PRESENT A ROADBLOCK FOR ROUTE 24 Officials fear language of legislation could grind project to a halt The Herald News, Thursday, June 11, 2009 - Page A1 Fall River - A bill before the state House meant to keep some Big Dig contractors from bidding on stimulus-funded projects could put the brakes on the proposed Route 24 interchange between exits 8 and 9. In a letter to local and state politicians, Fall River Office of Economic Development Executive Vice President Kenneth Fiola Jr. said the wording of Senate Bill 2047 would specifically prohibit engineering firms that have “paid money into the state’s Central Artery/Tunnel Project Repair and Maintenance Trust Fund” - basically the Big Dig fund - from bidding on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act projects. The wording, officials said, was placed in the bill to discipline those companies that caused the many issues involving the Big Dig construction. “Aside from jeopardizing the $76 million in federal funding through the ARRA and the jobs created as part of Interchange construction,” Fiola wrote, “passage of this bill could potentially forestall the creation of the new 300-acre SouthCoast BioPark, projected creation of 11,000 jobs for the SouthCoast region and millions of dollars in new state income tax, corporate tax and local real estate tax revenues.” Freetown Selectman Larry Ashley said the Senate wording means anyone who was involved in the Big Dig project, which he said is just about any Massachusetts contractor at this point, would be prohibited from bidding on this stimulus project. “It would basically mean that we would have to start this process all over again from the beginning,” said Ashley, “and this project means a great deal to the economic development of our town from the standpoint of business expansion and bringing new businesses to the area.” The new interchange in Freetown would connect to South Main Street to the west, Executive Park Drive to the east and tRiggenbach Road in Fall River to the south. The ramp would allow access to both the proposed BioPark, which would accommodate 3 million square feet of commercial space, and the proposed 575-acre site at the Freetown Riverfront Business Park, which would accommodate 2.5 million square feet of space. Both parks cannot happen without the interchange due to both exit 8 and 9 already being overburdened by traffic. Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District Transportation Manager Roland Hebert said it’s up to the House to change the wording on the bill or there won’t be any interchange to create jobs. “This is a design/build project where consultants run this project, and the Senate’s wording will deny three of the four consultants that have shown interest in the project. Those three would now become ineligible to accept the contract if this language stays,” said Hebert. “If it stays, the state will have one remaining bidder, and we can’t award a contract with one bidder, so we will not be able to obligate the stimulus funds within the required timeframe and we will lose that money. It would then go to another state. We know the state can’t afford to fund the $70 million dollar project on its own.” Hebert said the Senate wording came with an “unintended consequence” but said he knew it was directed at punishing companies responsible for the Big Dig fiasco, though most of the companies affected weren’t the cause of the project's many issues. “There are some that have put in money that did so just so they wouldn’t be sued,” said Hebert, “ones that did nothing wrong.” Hebert said he hopes the bill's language will be altered in the House Ways and Means to allow the companies to move forward on bidding on the project. The request for proposals on the Route 24 interchange is scheduled to be issued by MassHighway in mid June and a review of the technical proposals will be completed at the end of the summer. Fiola said he hopes to see the shovels in the ground this fall and work completed by the end of 2011. That, however, would be contingent on changing how the Senate bill is worded Senate lingo in its bill. “The House is all over this. We are aware of this issue with the wording and will do what we can in the House version of the bill,” said state Rep. Michael Rodrigues, D-Westport. “I can’t guarantee anything, but I’ve had conversations with the committee of the House Ways and Means and apparently they are all well aware of this issue.” MassHighway Spokesman Adam Hurtubise said the project is still a “top priority of the Patrick administration, and will continue to be a top priority”, but said MassHighway would decline comment on pending legislation. Ashley said the change they are looking for could be as simple as removing of a word or amending a single sentence that would not exclude a majority of contractors looking to take part in the bidding process. “It’s (the bill) like something where intentions were good but the way it's been done wasn't what we were looking for,” said Ashley. “It’s like throwing the baby out with the bath water. It would exclude all the work we have done so far.” E-mail Jay Pateakos at jpateakos@heraldnews.com. Back