Moving Forward with Caution

July 10, 2020 Pace LaVia

Amidst an unpredictable recovery, record setting COVID19 infections throughout the country, and residual worry about reopening the Commonwealth’s economy, there was room for some of the biggest transportation news in a generation. Let’s get right to it.

Bourne & Sagamore Bridges To Be Replaced

Plans are underway to replace both the Bourne and Sagamore bridges which connect Cape Cod to the Massachusetts mainland. The project will be funded by the federal government with costs estimated to reach about $1.5 billion.

A memorandum of understanding between the Mass. Dept. of Transportation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers after the Corps approved a final report on the project earlier this year.

The new bridges will be built next to the existing bridges. Drivers will enjoy four wider lanes under the new plans plus lanes for pedestrians and bicyclists.

As part of the agreement, the Army Corps “will maintain control of the existing bridges until the new bridges are completed at which point control of the new structures will be transferred to the state,” according to the report in the Boston Globe.

Gov. Baker said Tuesday that the current bridges “will be maintained as we look toward their successors.”

According to state Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack, the next step in the process is to finalize the design and construction plans.

“The sooner the better,” says Sen. Elizabeth Warren, in order to avoid sinking hundreds of millions of dollars in repairs into the existing bridges.

Congressman Bill Keating had this to say:

”These are more than bridges. These are lifelines. We need modern bridges that will deal with modern vehicles, modern commercial transport and open up passageways for bicycles and pedestrian traffic. This is indeed a milestone of significance. It’s a new chapter in Cape Cod’s history.”

Once construction is complete and the new bridges enter service, MassDOT will take over their ownership and operation. State and federal officials described the switch as a more natural fit that allows the department to align its work on surrounding roadways with the highly traveled canal crossings themselves.

The bridges are more than 80 years old.

Boston.com has more on this story.

Mass. Unemployment Claims Drop For Second Straight Week

For the second week in a row, unemployment claims have fallen in Mass.

Here are some quick unemployment statistics for the state according to the Boston Herald:

From June 14 to June 20, 9,541 people filed an initial claim for regular unemployment insurance.
Over the same period, 558,269 people in Massachusetts filed continued unemployment insurance claims.
From March 15 to June 20, a total of 1,028,424 Massachusetts people filed initial claims, or about one-quarter of the state’s workforce.
In March, the number of people filing an initial unemployment claim was around 180,000.
The number has dropped to less than 30,000.
More than 1.3 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week.

Coronavirus Data Shows Positive Trend

Although the U.S. is experiencing a surge in coronavirus cases with ICUs at capacity in many cities, positive test rates remained low this week in Mass. According to health, 15 more people died pushing the total up over 8,200 and 140 new cases were reported on the second day of Phase 3 reopening.

So far more than 110,000 cases have been reported in Mass., however, more than 93,000 people have fully recovered.

Here are some current Mass. COVID-19 statistics from the Boston Herald:

The state’s current total COVID-19 hospitalizations is above 600.
104 patients are in ICU, 50 are currently intubated.
Hospitalizations declined by 2,941 since May 5.
The peak of hospitalizations was 3,965 on April 21.
The three-day average of hospitalizations has dropped from 3,707 on May 1 to 620 now.
The seven-day weighted average of positive tests declined from 16.6% on May 1 to 1.9% now.
So far the state has tested more than 1,144,000 residents.
Middlesex County has the most confirmed cases at 24,243 cases
Suffolk County is second with 20,048 reported cases.
23,595 residents and health care workers at long-term care facilities have contracted
Of 8,213 total deaths, more than 5,000 are connected to long-term care facilities.

During Phase 3 of the state’s reopening, many gyms, fitness studios, movie theaters, museums, and outdoor venues reopened Monday with limited capacity and added restrictions. The maximum number of people allowed to gather increased to 25 people indoors, and 100 people outside.

More details are available at the Boston Herald’s website.

Hospitals Saw More Than $2 Billion In Losses Due To Pandemic

Massachusetts hospital lost more than $2 billion for the period ending March 31, 2020 as a result of the initial spread of coronavirus. That is according to data compiled by the state Center for Health Information and Analysis.

According to the data, the median margin for acute hospitals was at -2.7% during that period, a 6.9% decrease from the same period in 2019.

Seventeen of the 21 hospital health systems that reported data to CHIA had negative total margins while all 21 reported negative operating margins.

Here are some statistics on Mass. hospital losses for Q1:

Baystate Health lost $87.9 million.
Boston Children’s Hospital and its subsidiaries lost $383.5 million.
Mass General Brigham, the state’s largest private employer lost more than $1 billion.
UMass Memorial Health Care reported $81 million in net losses.
UMass Memorial Medical Group reported a $36.4 million loss.
The HealthAlliance-Clinton Hospital lost $6.4 million.
Marlborough Hospital lost $3.1 million
UMass Memorial Medical Center reported a $1.5 million loss.

Mass. Expands Electric Vehicle Initiatives

Under an expansion of electric vehicle incentives, nonprofits and businesses with fleets will have new incentives to purchase electric vehicles. The move “is intended to maximize the environmental impact of the program at a time when a slumping economy has slowed vehicle sales across the state — and progress toward the state’s carbon emissions goals,” according to a report in Energy News.

Gov. Charlie Baker has said that the state plans to be completely carbon-neutral by 2050. The Massachusetts Offers Rebates for Electric Vehicles program (MOR-EV), launched back in 2014, is part of the strategy to achieve that goal.

The program currently provides rebates to consumers who purchase electric vehicles of up to $2,500. More than 1,500 rebates were handed out in December of 2018. That number was more than four times the count the previous year. However, rebates were lowered to $1,500 in 2019 due to budget constraints and by mid-year had been suspended entirely.

This past December, the state revived MOR-EV for the next two years with $27 million in funding annually, or enough to provide more than 20,000 rebates.

However, so far in 2020 only 727 rebates have been requested totaling $1.5 million. The drop is being pinned on the massive reduction in traffic as a result of coronavirus restrictions.

Energy News has more on this story.

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