WORCESTER, Mass. — Worcester County drivers know the Route 20 and Grafton Street interchange floods a lot. Sometimes six to 10 times a year. It’s why the state’s transportation secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt is so relieved to have gotten $3.7 million in funding from the federal government.
What You Need To Know
- Route 20 Grafton Street interchange has dangerous flooding several times a year
- The state has received a federal grant for $3.7 million to fund the project to fix it
- It is still in the planning stages right now but is set to start work next summer
“Traditionally over the last several years, we always talk about snow and ice. That's the big thing we fear. And now, quite honestly, it really is the precipitation,” said Tibbits-Nutt. “A lot of that structure is from 1930s, so this is needed to be updated for a very, very long time because it wasn't built to the standards that we would build those structures today.”
Because of the type of work needing to be done, repairing and replacing culverts, it's hard to get funding which makes the project take so much longer.
The secretary says this funding doesn’t come around often so they really believe this will speed up the process to make these roads safe.
“I think not just for the protection of the residents that live there, not just for the protection of the roots of the economy that need to run through there. But it really is about resiliency,” said Tibbits-Nutt.
Although this project won’t start until next summer, the federal grant will pay for about 80% of the total costs.