Boston Streets Budget Holds at $207 Million as 27 Capital Projects Are Cut

BOSTON — May 4, 2026 — Boston's $207 million streets budget draws fire over stalled safety projects and rescinded federal grants. The City Council's Committee on Ways and Means, chaired by District 6 Councillor Ben Weber, held a May 4 budget hearing on the FY27 operating and capital plans for the Boston Transportation Department and Department of Public Works, with Interim Chief of Streets Nick Gove and Finance Director Omar Khashoggi defending a budget that grew just 0.8 percent while 27 capital projects were cut and two federal grants — a $20 million RAISE grant for the Roxbury Resilient Corridors project and a $2 million Reconnecting Communities grant for Mattapan Square — were rescinded. Recycling processing costs have climbed to $90 per ton, Khashoggi warned, with markets "changing month to month" due to tariff volatility, and the city's $23 million snow budget was insufficient to cover this winter's historic 63-inch snowfall. Advocates from Livable Streets Alliance, Transit Matters, the Boston Cyclist Union, and the Boston Policy Institute urged councillors not to approve any budget lacking specific deliverables and timelines, citing the removal of $7 million for four bus lanes and the shelving of multiple corridor redesign projects. Councillor Ed Flynn confronted Gove over a two-year-old unmet promise to implement 24/7 residential permit parking throughout South Boston, a commitment Flynn called "disrespectful" to his constituents.