Lexington and Concord officials say they are short on funding to transport spectators for the 250th commemoration

“We’re going to see tourists, traffic, crowds, and we really need help with transportation — to get people out of their cars and help with parking and buses,” said Suzanne Barry, president of the Lexington 250th. Committee and Vice-Chairman of the Town Select Committee.

“At the local level it was a challenge. For whatever reason, the rest of the state hasn’t agreed on the importance of funding this,” Barry said.

The $325,000 appropriation struck out in conference committee had been part of a larger $20 million package for statewide 250th funding, which also died. As the bill headed to House and Senate negotiators, the 250th committee chairs for the four Battle Road communities made one last request to their senators.

“These critical funds are needed to ensure the safe operation of inter-municipal transportation for visitors during these anniversary events,” their letter states. “With your support, the Commonwealth can meet the moment by committing essential funds to ensure a safe event.”

Also eliminated were requests approved by the House for $100,000 for Revolution 250, a nonprofit organization working on ambitious statewide programming to enhance celebrations throughout the year-long anniversary of the Revolution. Also missing are $50,000 for the city of Sudbury and $75,000 for the city of Quincy.

Attempts to reach Sen. Paul Mark, a Pittsfield Democrat who is co-chairman of the state’s 250th Anniversary Commission, and Sen. Michael Barrett, a Lexington Democrat who represents Concord and part of Lexington, were not returned. they were successful.

Frederick Ryan, a former Arlington police officer who is chairman of the Concord250 Public Safety Committee, said the four Battle Road towns as a group are seeking bids from transportation companies to provide “a scope of service that would be funded with about $100,000. ″ from the communities.

In addition, Ryan said, cities are “trying to identify additional resources to strengthen transportation services.”

Finding these funding resources has been a struggle.

“We spent so much time on Beacon Hill,” lobbying lawmakers for financial help, said Jonathan Lane, executive director of Revolution 250. “Every one of them said the 250th was important; we recognize the importance to our community; and everything is very interesting. But no one wants to make it their cause. Maybe they expect the Executive Office to do it.”

While the state has not approved direct transportation funding for cities, the state has paid out a total of $1.5 million in 250 grants to Massachusetts communities. Beneficiaries include the Concord Museum, the Lexington Visitor Center and the Lexington Historical Society.

The weekend commemorations are expected to be a flurry of activity, with the main events in Lexington and Concord taking place on April 19, the actual anniversary of the battles, instead of the April 21 public holiday.

The switch was made to aid the massive planning effort. But that weekend, Barry noted, also includes Good Friday, Easter and the last day of Easter.

Security planners are meeting almost daily now, said Ryan, who added that security needs will be further increased if then-President Donald Trump attends.

The plan complicates the running of the Boston Marathon two days later on the official Patriots Day holiday, which has its own high security concerns. The race will require the attention of law enforcement, which might otherwise have been diverted to Lexington and Concord.

“In 1975, each municipality was mostly working in their own silos,” Ryan said, referring to the Bicentennial celebration attended by then-President Gerald Ford. “Now, we have been working together for more than a year. From a public safety perspective, MEMA, National Guard, State Police and other state agencies have committed the necessary resources,” he added, using an acronym for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency.

However, he said, “transportation continues to be a challenge.”

Although the MBTA plans to add service to transport spectators to Concord via commuter rail, Barry said more buses are needed as well as shuttles to bring spectators from the satellite parking areas and transport others who want to simply to move from one location to another.

“It will be difficult for the spectators. They will have to choose what they want to go and see,” Barry said.

Lexington is also not served by commuter rail, so its transit challenges will be exacerbated that weekend, Barry said.

“We’re kind of stuck here in terms of public transportation,” she said.

Viewing options will be plentiful: Paul Revere’s Ride will be recreated on Friday evening, April 18. The battle on Lexington Green will take place around 5:30 a.m. Saturday, followed by ceremonies in Concord, where the “shot heard round the world” was fired. fired.

Parades from each community will be staggered — Concord’s in the morning, Lexington’s in the afternoon — and re-enactments of colonial attacks on the retreating British will take place along Battle Road in Minute Man National Historical Park in the late morning and early afternoon.

Barry said Lexington’s needs that weekend will be immense.

“We’re going to have to have more porta-potties than usual, more safety personnel around and more barricades, signage, cones and the kind of things that go with any big event,” Barry said.

Although Lexington is considered a wealthy city, Barry said, “we still have the fiscal concerns that all cities have.”

Time is running out, she added, but “this window has not completely closed. It will be wonderful if the state can appropriate money to the four communities because we can all use it.”

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Brian MacQuarrie can be reached at [email protected].