1st Middlesex Candidates Weigh-In on Transportation

LUNENBURG – The saying that a strong foundation is crucial for a quality home certainly applies to roads when it comes to the vitality and health of a community. First Middlesex District incumbent Margaret Scarsdale and Republican challenger Chris Lyons shared thoughts on transportation, and the need for state assistance and support on an issue affecting every single resident of the district.

Tuesday Nov 3’s general election is right around the corner and creeping up fast. The 1st Middlesex consists of Ashby, Townsend, Pepperrell, Groton (Precincts 2 and 3), Dunstable, and Lunenburg (Precinct A, Precinct B1, Precinct C, and Precinct D).

Scarsdale says transportation issues in the 1st Middlesex District are a different focus from neighboring cities like Fitchburg and Leominster. The biggest issue facing rural bedroom communities is school transportation, she says, particularly in regional school districts. Scarsdale says she’s been focused on helping communities deal with the financial implications, as well as driving more state funding for local and regional roads. The focus for Scarsdale is making sure “our small communities get their fair share from Beacon Hill,” she says.

School funding is a hot-button issue in Lunenburg and the surrounding communities, and school transportation costs have hit school budgets hard for decades, but Scarsdale is committed to softening the blow, she says.

“One of my top priorities has been school transportation,” Scarsdale said. “For too long, our school districts have received insufficient support from the state on the rising, monopoly-driven costs of transporting our students. I am leading the House on this issue, have delivered millions in new funding for student transportation through the state budget, and will keep pressing until our districts are no longer forced to choose between buses and classrooms.”

Roads are more than a pathway for vehicles, bicycles, and pedestrians, as they drive regional economic development. Local and regional roads have been a priority since being elected to office, Scarsdale says, and she’s proud of the funds driven to the community.

“I also am proud to have secured hundreds of thousands of dollars earmarked funding for infrastructure projects throughout the First Middlesex District,” Scarsdale said. “For example, in Lunenburg, I worked closely with local leaders to secure additional funding for the Flat Hill Road bridge replacement project. The project was plagued by cost overruns, but thanks to the state resources we secured, those additional expenses won’t fall to local taxpayers in Lunenburg. Now, that project is set to restart, a testament to the power of the collaborations I have built with our local leaders to deliver on local priorities.”

Scarsdale takes pride in her work to deliver Chapter 90 funding – which funds infrastructure improvement on local roadways and bridges – and vows to keep it a priority on Beacon Hill. She also successfully advocated for an additional $100 million to help local municipalities deal with cost overruns from last winter’s weather events.

Lyons stands firm in a big part of his campaign pitch on the necessity of a state audit, as he says it’s difficult to know the funding potential of priorities without realizing the gains of misspent dollars elsewhere. He hopes to bolster transportation infrastructure and funding if elected to the legislature, and understands how it relates to economic development.

“The state roads in this area seem to be in pretty good condition,” Lyons said. “The problems that voters have are with the roads that run north and south. That would be Route 13 and Route 31, and they both need to be resurfaced, and should have been resurfaced years ago. These are major roads for commerce and shipping to go back and forth between New Hampshire and Massachusetts. So I would certainly be going to bat for our district to get those roads taken care of.”

The zoning implications from the state’s MBTA Communities Act is something that Lyons is opposing, as he wants local control of zoning. With the Fair Share Amendment, also known as the Millionaire’s Tax, Lyons takes issue with the amount of funding from the surplus going to the MBTA commuter rail, instead wanting more for local road and bridge infrastructure.

“I feel like the MBTA is taking the lion’s share of the infrastructure money,” Lyons said. “And that’s not getting back to smaller communities in our district.”

Lyons fears the implications of a proposal under consideration in the legislature seeking to enact taxes on mileage driven in a vehicle, which would particularly negatively impact the commuters of the 1st Middlesex, he says.

“Most residents drive to major cities and metropolitan areas for work,” Lyons said. “I feel like the impacts to our district will be large. It will disproportionately affect our district over districts where you can jump on a train, walk, or bike. That’s not really feasible for people in our district.”

With MART service in Lunenburg, Lyons wants decisions driven by residents and not by Beacon Hill, he says.

Pick up a copy of this week’s Lunenburg Ledger for a story on the candidates’ social values.