LENOX, Mass. - Governor Maura Healey visited Lenox and Becket on Tuesday to talk about plans to invest in roads and bridges.

The area in Becket next to the intersection of Routes 20 and 8 used to be considered a public safety risk. Governor Maura Healey said now the culvert stands as an example of the difference her proposed investment in culverts and small bridges will make for communities across the Commonwealth.

Members of the Healey Administration visited Berkshire County to see firsthand how improvements to culverts make transportation stronger. The structure in Becket used to just be two pipes and the road collapsed 3 times in 6 years before being replaced in 2017.

“We came here today to listen to our local officials, to listen to local communities," Healey said. "We just had a robust conversation about the needs of the region and what the impacts of state neglect have been over the years.”

Healey said roads and bridges across the state are in need of repair and modernization and added Berkshire County needs more investment from the state following severe flooding events in the last two years.

It’s all part of the governor’s new budget proposal.

“We propose to invest $8.4 billion over the next ten years to put our state's transportation system on strong new foundations," Healey said. "This includes a 50% increase annual increase in Chapter 90 funding for local roads.”

Chapter 90 provides state funding for municipalities to improve roadways. Lenox Town Manager Jay Green said the funds are essential for Berkshire Communuties.

“My previous community relied on Chapter 90 for many different, items, to the point where we almost depleted it every year because we bought equipment, we paved roads, we pay for engineering," Green said. "It's a diverse program. It's a flexible program. But we felt as municipal officials and DPW staff, it was starting to get stale.”

Green said the Healey Administration answered their call to revise Chapter 90 in the latest proposal and Healey said transforming transportation will be done using existing revenue, without raising taxes.

The governor said it’s time to invest in weather-ready infrastructure

“You deserve a better deal from the state than you had been getting over decades," Green said. "And you also deserve to have communities that are safe from flooding.”

The $8 billion transportation investment is part of the governor's fiscal 2026 budget proposal, and the budget is usually finalized in July.