Bob Kraft is getting his! Just imagine Romney and Krafty cooking this up. But it is our magic negro gov!
Footbridge now political football
By Frank Mortimer Published: Thursday, December 10, 2009 9:52 AM EST A proposed $9 million pedestrian bridge over Route 1 was booted last week from the list of Massachusetts projects eligible for federal stimulus money amid rising concern among taxpayers and government officials about the funding.
But the project will get built with state money yet to be identified, Massachusetts Department of Transportation spokesman Colin Durrant said Wednesday.
"We're still committed to the project and we're exploring alternate sources of funding right now," Durrant said.
He said the change in the funding from federal to state will delay the construction while the DOT focuses on getting stimulus-funded projects "out the door."
Selectmen chairman Paul Feeney sees a silver lining in the pause, giving the Kraft Group and the Patrick administration more time to show that the footbridge will serve an major office park the Kraft wants to build across Route 1 from Patriot Place.
The footbridge would link the two Kraft-owned complexes.
"I look forward to working with the Kraft Group as well as the administration in developing land on Route 1... to realize the return on taxpayer investment," , Feeney said Wednesday.
"The State should not put the cart before the horse, and must be certain that a large scale development is on the horizon."
Feeney said a cost-benefit analysis should be done to ensure that the contstruction of a footbridge will significantly affect the value, or marketability of the office park.
He said the state must be willing to work with the town to mitigate impact on our resources, and that allowing the town exclusive advertising right on the pedestrian bridge would help mitigate the office park's impacts on town resources.
Selectman Larry Harrington said the development will bring more local jobs, additional property taxes, will help many small businesses in the area, such as gas stations, convenient stores, and restaurants, and may even boost property values as workers choose to live near the complex.
He voiced confidence that the state will find the money to build the footbridge.
"I hope people keep focused on the goal and agree that public-private partnerships do work," Harrington said.
That partnership does, however, raise some procedural complexities.
For example, the Kraft Group will not release its renderings of the taxpayer funded pedestrian bridge until the bridge's design is approved by the state, a Kraft spokesman said Tuesday.
"To date, we have had various renderings and anticipate several more before we make a formal submittal of the plans," New England Patriots spokesman Stacey James said via email. "Knowing that it will continue to change, I would prefer to wait until we have an approved rendering before we publicize it."
In a subsequent discussion, James added that "When the Massachusetts DOT has a rendering they've approved, it will become a public record. It doesn't involve the Kraft Group. We are not in a position to publicize these renderings without MassDOT approving them first."
Then there is the funding.
A year ago, the Patrick administration picked the vast Kraft Group property around the stadium as the centerpiece of a Growth District eligible for part of a $55 million special state fund for "shovel ready" projects. The pedestrian bridge, which was part of Kraft plans dating back a decade, was to be part of that state-funded plan.
But just weeks ago the pedestrian bridge was included on a list of 33 Massachusetts projects to be paid for with federal stimulus money.
The ground shifted again last Friday, with news that the bridge had been removed from list of stimulus-funded projects because the Obama administration felt the state had "more important projects to fund with Recovery dollars.".
As of last Thursday, an engineering firm working on the project was even unclear on whether the design approval will come from the town or from the state Department of Transportation.
"MassDOT has not confirmed to us who the Permitting authority will be," engineer Kevin McNamara of RDK Engineers wrote to building commission William Casbarra on Dec. 3.
