Massachusetts.

The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority last week began seeking proposals from law firms specializing in bonds after the state's attorney general ruled the authority could proceed with a controversial $500 million capital program.

Gov. William F. Weld has opposed the authority's plan since it was announced April 3 because he views it as a threat to a proposed super-agency, the Massachusetts Intermodal Transportation Authority. The agency would include the state's now separate turnpike authority, plus the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and the Massachusetts Port Authority.

A June 10 letter from the office of Attorney General Scott Harshbarger says the authority's decisions "are not subject to review by any department or agency of the commonwealth," including the governor. Gov. Weld had threatened to mount legal action in court to stop the bond-financed improvement plan.

But the attorney general's support means Gov. Weld cannot hope to stop the plan, according to James A. Aloisi, the authority's general counsel. "We're pleased that our legal position has been affirmed by the state's chief attorney, and now we hope to begin the process of depoliticizing this, and getting our program finished through a bond issue," Mr. Aloisi said Friday.

The governor contends the program is a dodge designed merely to perpetuate the turnpike authority's life as a separate bureaucratic entity. But officials at the authority insist repairs are desperately needed on their 35-year-old, 135-mile stretch of highway.

The bond program proposed in April would re-deck 110 bridges, repave 73 miles of road, install automatic toll collection, "and basically give the road a brand new life," according to Mr. Aloisi.

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