Transit officials under fire for $100K bathroom

BOSTON — Massachusetts transportation officials are under fire for authorizing a no-bid contract for a $100,000 bathroom inside a state office building.

WCVB-TV reports that the 115-square-foot bathroom and adjoining kitchenette was installed last year at the State Transportation Building inside the new state Transportation Department and MBTA board room.

The project was fast-tracked and not put out to bid, which is usually done for state projects to make contractors compete for the work and keep costs down.

Greg Sullivan, a former state inspector general who’s now research director at the Pioneer Institute, called the cost “outrageous.”

The bathroom is about 40 steps from a spacious public bathroom on the same floor. A spokesman for the Transportation Department says board members are sometimes followed to that bathroom by reporters during public meetings.