Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney signed a reform package July 21 giving the state’s transportation secretary sweeping new powers to consolidate the state’s highway infrastructure.

The new law would make the secretary chairman of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, an independent authority that currently operates outside state government. According to the Boston Herald, the secretary would also become a board member of the Massachusetts Port Authority and chairman of the Massachusetts Aeronautics Commission.

The change will not take place until 2007.

Lawmakers who approved the package earlier this month decided to delay the switch to avoid any disruption during the final stages of the Big Dig, which the Turnpike Authority oversees.

Despite the concentration of power in the hands of the transportation secretary, the package maintains the Turnpike as a separate independent authority.

The plan also yanks the salaries of Turnpike board members, who now earn about $25,000 a year, reduces their terms from eight years to five years, and caps the salary of the Turnpike executive director.

In addition, the package requires the Turnpike to study a sliding scale toll system that would raise and lower tolls to help reduce congestion and operating costs, the newspaper reported. An “Office of Transportation Planning” would also be created to develop a comprehensive plan to improve and maintain roads, passenger rails, freight rail, aviation, shipping and water transportation.