massachusetts turnpike authority

Two of six employees of Aggregate Industries NE have pled guilty in US District Court in Boston to being part of a conspiracy to rip off the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority by sending bad concrete to the Big Dig project. The six were indicted on US charges in 2006.

Mass Turnpike's executive director has staff turning off the Zakim Bridge decorative blue lighting which has made the bridge an attractive feature on the night skyline of Boston. He says the Turnpike is in severe financial straights and must save money wherever it can.

After weeks of leaks, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick has publicly put his case for abolition of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority (MTA). Published in the Boston Globe (op-ed page Nov 13) the Governor says previous administrations saddled the Turnpike with unsupportable debt, handed out jobs based on patronage, diverted capital funds for current salaries, and left no viable plan for the future.

The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority (MTA) runs out of legal authority to pay staff, vendors or anyone else midnight Oct 31. The Turnpike has been running on monthly budgetary approvals since it failed to produce an annual budget in the summer.

A class action lawsuit has been filed against the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority over its denial of transponder discounts to E-ZPass drivers that it grants to users of its own transponder branded FAST LANE.

Governor Duval Patrick says he has directed his secretary of transport and turnpike chairman Bernard Cohen to "prepare legislation to dismantle the Turnpike Authority, merge the remaining transportation agencies, and restructure the Big Dig debt." (direct quotes from press release 10-02) The announcement is part of a series of moves designed to cut spending in response to lower projections of tax revenues. It is mentioned under the heading "Reforms and Restructuring."

Bernard Cohen Massachusetts secretary of transportation and chairman of the Turnpike says he "isn't prepared to support" the toll increases that other board members say are inevitable. Cohen says he's meeting with leaders of various state transport agencies shortly "to discuss how we can collectively tackle the challenges we are facing through cost savings, efficiencies, and reforms with the goal of preventing further burdens being placed on consumers."

MASS PIKE

TransCore to do

$75m ETC job