Gov. Baker Recommends Allocating $15 MillionIn State Funds for Design of Storrow Drive Tunnel

Gov. Charlie Baker recommended the allocation of $15 million in state funds for  the design of the more than 70-year-old Storrow Drive tunnel as part of a supplemental budget he filed last month.

The bill,  called “An Act Making Appropriations for Fiscal Year 2022 to Provide for Supplementing Certain Existing Appropriations and for Certain Other Activities and Projects,” was filed May 18, and, according to Gov. Baker, “allocates approximately $1.7 billion of the tax surplus into projects and programs that will create permanent value for the Commonwealth.”

Regarding the proposed funding for the tunnel, Rep. Jay Livingstone wrote: “The Storrow Drive tunnel needs to be replaced, and I appreciate that the Governor is taking this set towards that goal. I look forward to the public discussion that could start and am hopeful that MassDOT will not repeat its past proposal to cause significant negative impacts to the Esplanade as part of any plan.”

Like Storrow Drive itself, the tunnel, which carries traffic through the parkway that runs alongside the Charles River Esplanade, was built in 1951.

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