BOSTON — Gov. Maura Healey announced Thursday that 27 bridges in Western Massachusetts will be repaired under the state’s Accelerated Bridge Program, following advocacy by state Rep. Leigh Davis, who filed legislation to revive and expand the initiative with a focus on rural communities.

“I’m announcing tonight that we have a program, ABC, accelerating bridge construction. It's going to open up closed bridges and make repairs faster, so people can get moving again,” Healey said during the State of the Commonwealth address Thursday night. “And we are going to do that all over the state.”

Davis, of Great Barrington, proposed legislation last year to restart the Accelerated Bridge Repair program, which previously completed hundreds of bridge projects with a focus on rural communities like those in Berkshire County.

The 10-year program, which ended in 2018, reduced the number of structurally deficient bridges from 543 to 432 and created thousands of jobs, Davis said.

Since its end, rural areas have continued to struggle with aging infrastructure. In South County, recent closures of the Brookside Road and Kellogg Road bridges have disrupted travel and emergency services.

The funding is a part of the Legislature's $8 billion, 10-year transportation investment plan set to “fix our broken transportation system.”

“I’ve challenged my team to move as quickly as they can on all of this,” Healey said. “How we get around and how quickly we get around, or don’t, matters. It matters to people in our lives. It matters to our economy. We have to get this done.”

The program wasn’t part of Healey’s prepared remarks, which briefly mentioned accelerating bridge construction to reopen closed bridges and speed repairs. The unexpected announcement and mention of her legislation had Davis cheering in the chamber.

“It’s a big deal that she’s responding,” Davis said. “I was in my seat in the chamber, and then she was talking about transportation, and then she said we're gonna do the accelerated bridge construction, and it's going to be 27 bridges. And then I was like, 'woo hoo.'”

Davis said she had pitched the program directly to Healey in March because she knows how crucial the bridge crisis is in Berkshire County. She urged the Healey administration to include the acceleration program in the $8 billion transportation plan.

“It's about time that we ... revive it and focus it on Western Mass.," Davis said, "because we're just so far behind the curve right now.”

It’s not yet clear what Western Massachusetts bridges Healey was referring to, but Davis said she suspects many will be in the 18 towns she represents.

“The governor’s acknowledgment signals that rural infrastructure is finally being taken seriously,” Davis said. “This is about fairness, safety and making sure no part of Massachusetts is left behind as we invest in our transportation future.”