Massachusetts General Laws
Chapter 6c - Massachusetts Department of Transportation
Section 11 - Publication of Comprehensive State Transportation Plan; Report on Plan Compliance; Equitable Capital Expenditures

Section 11. Every 5 calendar years, beginning not later than April 30, 2010, the secretary of the department shall, after conducting public hearings, prepare and publish in the Massachusetts Register a comprehensive state transportation plan for the 5 succeeding fiscal years, beginning with the period of fiscal year 2011 to 2015, inclusive. The plan shall be consistent with the project selection criteria as established by section 11A. The plan shall be designed to ensure construction and maintenance of a safe, sound and efficient public highway, road and bridge system, to relieve congestion, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, particulates and other pollutants, and to improve the quality of life in the commonwealth by promoting economic development and employment in the commonwealth by meeting, cost effectively, the diverse transportation needs of all residents of the commonwealth, including urban, suburban and rural populations. The plan shall include a toll feasibility analysis in the evaluation of all highway, road and bridge projects. The plan shall also include an engineering assessment to anticipate highway, road and bridge needs throughout the commonwealth as determined by objective engineering measurements of condition, safety and service. The secretary shall consult with the executive office of environmental affairs, the executive office for administration and finance, the public-private partnership infrastructure oversight commission, and the executive office of housing and economic development in the development of the plan. The plan shall provide for meeting not less than 5 per cent annually of the estimated construction, reconstruction and repair needs of public highways and bridges of the commonwealth, its counties, cities and towns. The department shall determine and certify to the secretary of administration and finance its estimate of the total value of all construction, reconstruction and repair needs of the commonwealth's highway and bridge infrastructure. The total value estimate shall be based on satisfying current safety and maintenance standards of the Federal Highway Administration and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. The estimate shall be substantiated by documented objective engineering estimates. The secretary of transportation shall make plans, and updates thereto, based upon such certified estimates and make such plans or updates available for public review.
The department shall report annually, not later than February 1, to the house and senate committees on ways and means and the joint committee on transportation on their compliance with the plan and their efforts to satisfy the 5 per cent construction, reconstruction and repair needs to the commonwealth's public highways and bridges.
The long range transportation plan developed by the secretary of transportation under this section shall ensure that the commonwealth's total 5 year capital expenditures for road and bridge projects across all capital programs for such projects managed by the executive office, excluding competitive grant programs, shall be equitable across the districts established in section 3 of chapter 57. For the purposes of this paragraph, ''equitable'' shall mean not less than 75 per cent of the annual percentage of the total statewide collections of motor vehicle fuel tax generated by each such district; provided, however, that the minimum percentage shall be 85 per cent for districts in which the revenue generated by registered vehicles that have a Fast Lane transponder exceeds the average revenue generated by registered vehicles that have a Fast Lane transponder in districts statewide.
The long range transportation plan developed by the secretary of transportation under this section shall provide that not less than $100,000,000 shall annually be spent for the construction and reconstruction of municipal ways and bridges as described in clause (b) of the second paragraph of section 4.

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