The Fall River, Massachusetts, meeting on December 21, 2022, was a groundbreaking ceremony for the Route 79/Veterans Memorial Bridge Mega project. Mayor Paul Coogan opened the ceremony by highlighting years of planning and state-level partnership, particularly with Governor Charlie Baker and Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito, for developing the Fall River Waterfront. Mayor Coogan presented a Key to the City to Lieutenant Governor Polito, acknowledging her tireless advocacy for Fall River projects, including COVID response, the railroad, the pier, and Route 79. State Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver introduced the $135 million Route 79 project, describing it as a complete transformation of the Fall River Waterfront, connecting the Bragga Bridge and Route 79. Lieutenant Governor Polito, Secretary Jamie Tesler, Senator Michael Rodrigues, Representative Carol Fiola, and Representative Alan Sylvia all spoke, emphasizing the project's significance in reconnecting the city to its waterfront, creating a new waterfront boulevard, and developing 17-19 acres for housing and retail. They also highlighted the collaborative efforts of the legislative delegation, MassDOT, and local economic development teams, as well as the funding secured through the bipartisan infrastructure law. The ceremony concluded with a ceremonial shoveling of dirt, marking the official start of construction.
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this this project again is years and years of planning hard work um our partners on the state level whether it's the the dot Secretary of Transportation have worked tirelessly to bring this to fruition we're on one of those projects right now the City Pier you look across the street at the development going on with uh my friend Robert cowns building the railroad station just down the road
0:29and all of these projects all of them are part of a plan to develop the Waterfront in Fall River and they were done with the cooperation of the administration Governor Charlie Baker and our strong strong Advocate and friend to the city of Fall River lieutenant governor Cameron Polito so everybody knows me I'm very very practical and I try to get things that I think people will use as a memory or
1:02something and I was gonna give um a key to the city to our great great lieutenant governor Cameron Polito but I really wanted to get her a gas card because she's down here so often I thought that would be more practical but my staff said you can't do that you can't do that because it's going to be a whole twenty dollars I know she comes back and forth but I do want to give her
1:24a key to the city and I want to thank her for her friendship and I hope it continues long past her term she's done so many many great things for the city whether it was covid the railroad the pier Route 79 you can put her name on them along with the governor Charlie Baker but she's been down here when we ask her to come she answers the phone when you call her
1:47and she's done everything she can to help the city and it made my term in office so much easier to have someone like that to work with and it's a pleasure to get to know her and I want to thank her and present her with this key now and I hope she doesn't throw it at me
2:25hey it's real oh
2:39now we have to find a door for that one to unlock all right good morning everybody thank you mayor for the introductions my name is Jonathan Gulliver I'm the state highway administrator it's a pleasure to be here and be the emcee for the remainder of our uh as the as the mayor said short speaking event so I I first met the mayor a few years ago when he was still mayor-elect and the delegation
3:03hosted us to talk about a number of important projects that were going to be going on down here and it was no surprise that this was the top one that was discussed and we have since done a lot of work and had been doing a lot of work to progress it and the this project is a connection between the bragger bridge and Route 79 Veterans Memorial Bridge Mega project it's 135 million
3:24dollar project really big one for us to be delivering and it's going to be a complete transformation of the Fall River Waterfront and now it's really great to be here to be uh to be breaking ground on this really really nice project now our our first speaker for today was was actually just up here receiving a key but uh has as the mayor said has had a real notable uh run here working with with
3:48communities all across the state and for the past eight years she has really focused on connections which is important for us in transportation of course for a lot of different reasons but she's had connections with Mayors she's had connections with Town officials and with the communities that they all represent and the governor and lieutenant governor have really had a remarkable ability to really have
4:08develop a deep understanding of what the community needs and how our projects help them achieve their goals and I can tell you firsthand it's amazing to watch that you're going for a briefing with the governor and the lieutenant governor they know the details of that project inside and out as well as everything else coming before than that day and when the lieutenant governor learned of this particular project
4:30that we could reconnect Fall River with its waterfront there became no bigger Advocate and I mean advocate in this case in scare quotes because believe me when the the LG had no problem calling up if there was any hiccup in the design or if the permits were running a little behind she would call up really quickly and make sure that the project was progressing and that we were going to be
4:52overcoming any obstacle big or small so please welcome our chief Advocate lieutenant governor Karen Polito
5:06happy to be here with all of you obviously for this incredible project but just on behalf of the governor and our team just to say thank you it has been such an honor to work with all of you over these last eight years and to be here for our final in this team configuration event is really special to me I want to say thank you to my friends here from the legislature who are your Advocates every
5:37single day and that is Senator Michael rodericks it's become a wonderful friend to our family and you and Patty and we wish you wonderful uh gear ahead in good health to everyone in your family representative Sylvia representative Fiola and representative Schmidt a I appreciate you I thank you I'm looking forward to our friendship continue into the future I love you all very much and
6:04I thank you for your service for your choice of work to be in the legislature to give voice and advocacy to this region of our Commonwealth and being someone who is not from Boston I understand how important that is and how your voices matter and how your pride and your passion and your commitment have made a difference and you've made the journey for the governor and me and our team that much more enjoyable and
6:30yes you have inspired us uh to be true to our promises and this was one of the promises we made that we would see this project come through and and I'm happy to be here
6:48just don't forget about me now I said all those nice things I mean them and I want to say thank you to the to the team at massdot I have two home districts District three uh which is in the central part of the state in Worcester and District Five and Mary Jo uh thank you for your leadership here uh everyone knows you when it comes to Transportation uh you're the go-to
7:13person and your team and all of the the people who have come to work for this district and see these projects through safely and successfully under your leadership I want to thank these two right here secretary tesler and Jonathan Gulliver two great public servants two people who know their stuff when it comes to Transportation but who believe in it and understand the importance of it and I appreciate your
7:44willingness to accept my texts and calls I'm always calling to say what do you think where's this one stand can we move it along a little bit further and they work so hard to get back and and keep these projects online because they know it doesn't just mean a lot to the governor and to me it means a lot to you and they get that they are so connected to the communities like I have been and
8:08I appreciate your service for these eight years and hopefully long into the future for our Commonwealth so thank you to all of the mastiot people I want to thank all the municipal folks uh mayor Coogan uh thank you for your leadership you've done a lot for this city and you're one of those individuals who believes deeply and the people here and certainly are part of the future and the transformation of the city uh we
8:39work through some pretty tough times in covid we became really close during that time it's true for a lot of us as we've worked through those challenging times but you never lost sight of all of the things that were important around Economic Development housing development in a project like this that would be transformational to the city so you and and thanks for your sense of humor
9:01he kept some of those uh those hard moments uh light and we got through it together that's a you're a real true public servant it's been an honor to work with you and in honor to work with your team you know Ken Fiola and the whole economic development team uh thank you uh you are the ones who you know show that that point of pride and the enthusiasm and you know bringing in the
9:26private uh developers uh to really understand and showcase what you love about this city and knowing that you'd have a someone in the wings you'd call me up and say can you just make a commitment on the public side so if we get the public dollars we can get the private dollars too and we can make these things happen and I would say over these eight years I I'm so honored to be
9:50a part of this team and to see these dreams and hopes that you've had become real and this is one of those moments this is a real moment the the this project is groundbreaking 135 million dollars programmed in thanks to the support of our legislature there's no small task with that this is a complicated project and as much as the governor and I get into the deep details this one's really this is really deep in
10:18the details uh to all the construction folks and Beta And every anyone else I know this is a design build program so you're going to start to see in this community the actual work being done that gives you a real sense of commitment when you see the actual construction take place you don't have to wait for four years or three years this is going to happen now I want to thank the governor he really
10:43really wanted to be here because he is one of those individuals that really listens and he remembers and he follows through and that has been in addition to other parts of his leadership style that has been sort of the core of it and this is one that he heard a lot about on the campaign Trail back in 2014 and he wanted to make sure that this got done so on behalf of the Governor from him to
11:11all of you uh thank you for working so hard he's so proud and he's so happy that he could deliver on this this project all right it's beautiful here and you look for Memorial Park I know you've worked so hard for the Vietnam memorial and all the other beautiful uh memorials there and how much you embrace our veterans and then the walk all along this quarter through City Pier uh Carol Fiola the lights on the praga
11:43bridge that those are you know another another symbol another symbol of a pride and and talk about Connections uh I wanted to see that happen too for you because when the lights go on on the zaken bridge and the Four River Bridge and uh our Worcester Bridge uh your bridge is lighted too and that truly does connect all of us in the Commonwealth and then you see this this city on a
12:14hill and no longer will it feel so far away from this beautiful Waterfront that there will be a real opportunity to access the Waterfront to your your city on the hill and your your City to the Waterfront so this is this is truly transformational to bring Route 79 and Duvall uh you know connected from the city down but also along the whole Waterfront right to Battleship Cove into
12:44the bridge so just congratulations it's been an honor to Steward a lot of the transportation programs under the Community Development work that I spearheaded for our Administration I believe it's 1.5 billion dollars of chapter 90 funds out the door under our Administration another 337 million in local programs like complete streets and the local bottleneck in the pavement program
13:11the other connection is the the bicycle little path that will be part of this and I think I read in my notes it will connect you to Cape Cod and connect Cape Cod through here to Rhode Island that's another amazing attribute that will be built right into the design and to this uh project so these are my my final departing words but it's not a departure it's a new beginning for me as a citizen of this
13:37Commonwealth and a resident of this area for for me to be able to see and appreciate all of the the work that will happen here and see this transformation take place and while I've had eight years to be a partner with you I have a lifetime to enjoy all of you I'm very grateful thank you and an honor of a lifetime
14:18all right thank you lieutenant governor and you know as you alluded to having uh having we have had a great team at massdot and that really has in order to have a great team you need to have great leaders so we certainly all appreciate uh the leadership that you and the governor have provided we've done a lot of work down here yep so uh our next speaker is uh is really another great leader in the
14:46administration and he's the perfect balance of creativity and practicality and he's another major reason why we're here and one of us one of the big things about his style of leadership is that not only does he allow it but he encourages our Engineers to think outside the box and come up with Creative Solutions to the projects that they're working on any roadblocks they're in encountering and other things
15:07to make sure that those projects are going to be delivered in a way that's going to be best for the community that they're in and from day one he saw the immediate impact to the community and how transformative this project will be for Fall River so please welcome a good friend and a great boss Jamie Tesla
15:28thanks Jonathan and uh first of all just thanks to I want to thank the massdot team uh Mary Joan the district Jonathan and team uh and our partners uh on the construction side at SBS and uh dwy this is uh a real these projects take a big team they do the work uh and these projects take hard work so we begin with appreciating that um I want to talk about um what you heard from the lieutenant
15:56governor and really why we're here we're here for a couple very basic reasons one we have a great project 135 million dollar project to celebrate today two we're here because of something that the governor and lieutenant governor started from day one which is placing a priority on listening to what communities need and that is what this project is that is why we're here is because then you heard
16:25it through her comments we are here because they listened uh and they responded to what is needed here and that is this project the third feature um in the lieutenant governor touch on this as well is they told us from day one as a team that we serve the whole state and we should be out in the whole state not in uh in Boston or in our offices but to get out and to be here
16:50and to be present and be in the communities so it has been wonderful because lieutenant governor mentioned it to be back here uh twice in the last uh in a week and a half or two weeks uh we were here for the South Coast rail we're here for this project and that's not a coincidence that's our job and that's how we think about it uh is to serve the whole Commonwealth and get uh get out
17:10and really make sure we celebrate these milestones and these landmarks for important Investments and projects we're making and as lieutenant governor mentioned we had a long list you can imagine we had a long list of things we wanted to get to this month uh and things we wanted to do so this is the last schedule one and I think that's important that it's here uh and and what we are celebrating today and that's
17:35really a reflection on the priorities and the relationships that the lieutenant governor and the governor are built and the work that we're doing together and what this will reflect I want to talk just quickly about why we're able to do this project I think it's important always to tell the story of the partnership with the legislature and the work that they do and we need to do together these things do not happen
17:57without a lot of people coming together and making sure we can do it and to do it you need to have funding and so the governor lieutenant governor filed the bill we call Mass track earlier this year as a to fund and to leverage all the federal resources we're getting out of the bipartisan infrastructure law that law which is over 11 billion dollars was passed by the legislature in
18:20in for us an extremely fast fashion came back in great order was signed this summer in August it's over 11 billion dollars without that we could not take these steps and make these Investments and so it's important to really just thank uh thank our delegation here for the partnership and their leadership and to um to recognize that that is going to continue to deliver benefits here and
18:47across the Commonwealth for years to come because the Investments we're able to make on it the last thing I want to talk about is our local programs our Municipal programs that we've built uh together with the legislature with the lieutenant governor and the governor's leadership that are in that Bond Bill and are funded for the next five years there are six programs none of these
19:09were fully funded all only one existed but wasn't funded the other five have been built by this Administration and they're going to continue to pay dividends and show benefits for projects like this and across the Commonwealth so just to hit them quickly we have a complete streets program we have a shared streets and spaces program which I know here in lots of places the Commonwealth that took advantage of it
19:33was born in the pandemic has grown and shifted into a number of different things we have a local bottleneck program to address congestion and where communities see opportunities we have a small all bridge program that is doing great things across the Commonwealth we have a and we have a local payment program that we are investing in and addressing areas that don't otherwise get fit and I wanted to end there
19:57because while these big projects are really critical and exciting it's these small projects where we are funding ideas that come from all of you and that reflects where we begin uh where we begin and end today which is really listening to local needs responding to them and giving you the resources as opposed to succeed so I do hope I know the team here will continue to take advantage of those grants and
20:23we'll continue to support additional Investments for years to come based upon the work that our legislature and the government will attendant Governor have done to give us that program and resources again it's great to be here it's great to have this beer Alaska scheduled event this month and I'll hand you get back to Jonathan foreign thank you secretary and uh I do want to acknowledge the secretary mentioned this
20:51is a federally aided project we work very closely with our partners at Federal Highway on a lot of projects they weren't able to be here today but I do want to acknowledge that uh they would have been a critical part of progressing this project I also want to it's been mentioned but I also want to acknowledge that this is a district district 5 project managed by Mary Joe Perry and her team a lot of these guys
21:13that are out here in the yellow jackets are going to be the ones that are boots on the ground to make sure that this project goes well and additionally our designer beta is here as well as our design build team and we were really really happy with the design build team that was selected for this so we had uh two of our top three contractors team up I'm not and I'm not going to tell you
21:33guys which numbers you are you can figure that out later but SPS New England and DW white they really are they're two two of the best contractors that we have in the state they teamed up on this job along with uh their their engineer hntb to progress this and we know it's going to to go really well because of having a really good team involved so also as a secretary and the lieutenant
21:53governor have mentioned this takes a partnership that goes beyond just working directly with with the community it takes a lot of partnership with the legislature to progress these kinds of projects and you can have the best design in the world but it really is just a pretty picture if you don't build it and our next speaker makes sure that we just don't collect a lot of pretty pictures when we do our work and this
22:15isn't just for Fall River his understanding of transportation funding infrastructure has benefited everybody in the Commonwealth so please welcome state Senator Michael Rodricks thank you thank you Jonathan good morning everyone first of all Madame lieutenant governor it's great to see you two days in a row we started our mornings together uh yesterday up in Charlestown where you and your team announced 180 million
22:44dollars of grants for Seaport infrastructure to support our offshore wind industry and we are receiving a significant amount of that funding right across the river in Brighton point and up the river at glading her in a Boatyard to ensure that they will have the infrastructure to participate in probably the most exciting New Economic Development opportunities going forward and then
23:08this morning announcing the grants here for Route 79 um we will never forget you and we're having a governor you and Steve and your family have become close friends to Patty and myself and my family and um you know and the mayor said many years that this is this project has been uh under planning I can remember back in the 90s with Senator Tom Norton talking about uh refiguring and rethinking about our
23:35City's Waterfront and the fact that in the 1950s under President Eisenhower when they had this great this great Highway boom across the United States of America across the country our waterfronts were not places that were attractive at that time you know there were old rotting ships and coal yards and rats and you know it you know it wasn't pretty so what did they do they built highways to
24:00go right by not just in Fall River they did it in New Bedford they did it in Baltimore they did it in Seattle you go Acro around the country um they they thought the best you know just drive past that Waterfront and here we are 75 years later knowing and realizing that our waterfronts are our greatest natural resources and we need to reconnect our city uh to our greatest resource our Waterfront and it started
24:26um north of here the Veterans Memorial Bridge that was at the time The Big Dig was going on when we built that project and it was the second largest Transportation construction projects in the state of Massachusetts other than the so-called big dig and then south of here at the Braga bridge and the so-called spaghetti ramps the dismantling and reconstruction and reconfiguring of projects just south of
24:51here and now here we are connecting the two in the middle that's really going to ensure that all of our residents from the city up on this these Hills have equal and good access to our Waterfront so thank you very much this would not have happened without you and Governor Baker and I said this a few weeks ago at South Coast rail you know 26 years I've been in six Governors Governors and
25:17administration but it's this team Charlie Baker and Cameron Polito that made sure that these projects happened and we will never forget that so thank you very much I don't know where we're going to start tomorrow morning uh but announcing announcing some more grants would be great and I look forward to it so thank you all very much all right thank you Senator um our next speaker has been a real
25:49tireless advocate for this project and you know one of the things that I've appreciated about her style from the beginning is that not only does she keep our feet to the fire but she also is one of our biggest supporters along the way and that's that's a really great balance when you're trying to get a project like this done uh real partnership from her first day in office even before
26:08the bracket Bridge was completed she was focused on reconnecting her community and its beautiful Waterfront and with a project that creates more than 17 new Acres of space along the way please welcome one of this Project's biggest Champions State Rep Carol Fiola usually and I'm usually speak from the heart but I prepared some remarks because I just wanted to include some information and and that I didn't want
26:39to sit down later and say gosh I wish I said that so good morning everyone it is a great day lieutenant governor I'm a little emotional because of the Friendship we've shared and the number of projects that we have talked about through the last eight years of my nine years in the legislature so thank you and yes we will continue that friendship down the road with you uh secretary Tesla thank you
27:03Highway administrator thank you mascot team you're indispensable thank you mayor my incredible legislative colleagues who none of this is possible without our teamwork and I think that's what helps our community because of the teamwork we do have um and everyone for attending this morning's tremendous event on our Fall River Waterfront so I can't say enough about the last eight years of the baker Polito
27:33Administration time and time again you have proven and your commitment to Fall River by listening to our needs and providing the necessary funding to meet those needs and allow the city to move forward in a positive fashion without your commitment to the city much of what you see before you would never come to fruition as the senator so nicely said on behalf of all the residents of Fall
27:58River and the south coast thank you I'd like to also again thank my legislative colleagues past and present as we never cease to keep this project front and center and for me it's been 10 years of work since my very first meeting at the Boys and Girls Club to hear about public input on the Route 79 project today is a Bellwether day for Fall River this groundbreaking signifies Decades of
28:25work by dozens of people throughout the last 20 plus years back in 1999 the Fall River office of Economic Development commissioned a report called the harbor Economic Development this report did not sit on a Shelf on in spite of what many people think happens to these reports that plan and subsequent revisions to that plan served as The Guiding Light for the revitalization of fall River's greatest
28:54asset our Waterfront recommendations in those plans consisted of extension of the boardwalk from Heritage Park to the Veterans Memorial Park check streetscape improvements along Duval Street check re-establishment of Commuter Rail to Boston check elimination of the spaghetti ramps check and now the raising of Route 79 and the creation of new Waterfront Boulevard and development of 1719 acres to create new
29:27housing and Niche retail wow steering this effort I have to say was the bcedc formerly the froed who kept this Vision alive through the terms of eight Mayors and three gubernatorial Administrations this board of volunteers under the leadership of its current president Frank marcione and former presidents the late David Westgate and Paul Medeiros literally secured Millions upon millions
29:52of dollars to implement the long-term vision of the Waterfront today I also want to recognize their efforts and those of Ken Ken friola who has shepherded this and each of the projects I mentioned throughout each step thank you I would like to thank Bob and Jim carham Peter Cabral Bay Coast Bank Larry Kudo while in Mockingbird Tony kadiro Michael London all business people all local business people and more
30:29recently Vitali fedesic across the street have already invested millions of dollars down here based on their belief but not certainty their belief but not certainty that this day would come thank you thank you Bob is here today thank you finally I look forward to the implementation of this incredible 130 million maybe by the end it'll be 160 who knows dollar project no sometimes that happens we add things we feel we
31:00need um I look forward to this the lighting the Final Phase of lighting the Braga bridge and the millions of dollars in private investment that this project will generate right here in the city of Fall River thank you lieutenant governor thank you Governor Baker please share those things but celebrating this day with us we wish you well no Fall River we are no longer forgotten all right thank you representative and
31:38to our contractor team that was not the start of any sort of extra work order negotiations just to be clear um but you know to to the representative's point few places across the Commonwealth have a delegation as unified as Fall River does to deliver as many of these kind of major projects to reactivate the Waterfront starting with the Veterans Memorial Bridge Project the bracket Bridge Project and now this project
32:02we're we're really looking at along with all the other Investments made in the area we're actually up almost to three quarters of a billion dollars over the last few years of investment in the community and that and that's pretty amazing so to uh to close us out I want to please welcome another key member of the Fall River delegation rep Alvin to Alan Sylvia thank you thank you very much thank you Senator
32:31Governor I had no idea I was going to say a few words but uh I am delighted and I was almost brought to tears uh not only by our Lieutenant Governor's remarks but by uh rep Fiola uh and it's all true the efforts that has been that has been exhibited by those folks who were mentioned our business partners uh uh Frank and and Ken um incredible uh Joe Marshall who's sitting here who
33:02is really uh president for the Veterans Memorial Park all of this working collaboratively you know it's hard to get people to work together but we're working together and we've been doing that for a long time and you see the fruit of that now that doesn't happen in all all communities but we're blessed to have it happen here and what a what a wonderful time to have it happen Christmas
33:31it's a perfect time to uh not only express uh Direction uh feelings and thoughts and even emotions today I hate to see this Administration leave I'm encouraging her uh I'll lieutenant governor to run for Congress and I'm a Democrat you know so a moderate one but uh we're blessed today we're blessed to have uh all of you here so uh thank you all very very much all right uh thank you representative
34:10and that's the end of our formal speaking program but I do want to acknowledge this was a project that took a number of PM's project managers inside of uh massdot to get done and I want to uh acknowledge I know many of you in the community worked with Valerie kilduff over the last year now to get this done and bring it over to finish line so thank you Valerie
34:31all right now uh that's the end of our program we're gonna head out here into the cold and and you know thank you again to the Fall River to for for providing us with this Tent today to keep all of us warm we're going to go out there now and shovel some dirt
34:54all right one two three yeah all right