The Massachusetts Gaming Commission has approved the request of a western Massachusetts town for more money to help cope with anticipated traffic from the MGM Springfield casino.
West Springfield will receive $247,500 dollars from the state’s casino mitigation fund to pay for higher than expected costs to design the reconstruction of Memorial Avenue.
MGM already paid the town $665,000 for the project in 2014. A policy change by MassDOT in 2015 increased the cost. Commission Chairman Stephen Crosby said the request for mitigation funds was reasonable.
" This is for unanticipated and/or the unanticipatible ( expenses)," he said.
The mitigation fund, which started the year with $14 million, is financed from a portion of the fees paid for gaming licenses
