Long list of state projects seek federal infrastructure funding
WASHINGTON — Connecticut’s Department of Transportation has already drawn up a list of priority projects it hopes will secure funding from President Joe Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure package that he proposed two weeks ago.
State officials want to nab a bit of the $621 billion earmarked for transportation projects to reduce congestion on Interstate 84 in Danbury, build new bus systems in New Haven, Bridgeport and Stamford, replace three bridges on the New Haven rail line, and upgrade the Stamford Transportation Center, according to a list obtained by Hearst Connecticut Media.
DOT will also prioritize converting all 700 CTTransit buses around the state from diesel to electric over the next 15 years, improve outdated traffic signal technology such as those along the Berlin
As the administration works to build support for the plan, the White House released report cards for every state’s infrastructure Monday, grading Connecticut’s at a C-. The vast majority of states received C or C- grades based on how the conditions of their roads and bridges, public transportation, resilient infrastructure, drinking water, housing, broadband, caregiving, child care, manufacturing, home energy, clean energy jobs and veterans health facilities.
Turnpike, and upgrading sidewalks, bike lanes and pedestrian signals to reduce traffic deaths.
The state also wants to create a statewide electric vehicle charging network, including faster chargers in heavily trafficked areas. They also hope the money will allow them to reintegrate Hartford and East Hartford, cities divided by I-91 and I-84, a project long championed by U.S. Rep. John Larson, D-1.
Broadly, these projects reflect the state’s goals of reducing congestion, reconnecting neighborhoods, making rail more reliable and improving urban transit systems. These represent long-standing priorities for DOT that it can’t afford to fund today, said Garret Eucalito, deputy commissioner for the state DOT.
The American Jobs Plan — the massive infrastructure package that could fund these projects — is just starting to move its way through Congress and Democrats hope it might be passed over the summer. Many of the priority projects announced DOT align with the objectives of the federal plan including incentivizing electric vehicles, repairing roads and bridges and improving public transportation, especially rail speeds.
“The jobs plan is going to allow states and local government to move forward with long overdue projects to fix roads and bridges, to expand and modernize transit — by the way transit not only in big cities, but in small communities — and connect more of our communities,” said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg Monday. “Any individual community and any state stands to benefit in a big way.”
DOT Commissioner Joseph Giulietti has met with several Biden transportation administrators to highlight Connecticut’s transportation priorities and need for federal partnership, Eucalito said.
As the administration works to build support for the plan, the White House released report cards for every state’s infrastructure Monday, grading Connecticut’s at a C-. The vast majority of states received C or C- grades based on how the conditions of their roads and bridges, public transportation, resilient infrastructure, drinking water, housing, broadband, caregiving, child care, manufacturing, home energy, clean energy jobs and veterans health facilities.
“In Connecticut there are 248 bridges and over 2,100 miles of highway in poor condition,” the White House wrote in its state infrastructure fact sheet. “Since 2011, commute times have increased by 10.9 percent in Connecticut and on average, each driver pays $711 per year in costs due to driving on roads in need of repair.”
The infrastructure package goes well beyond just transportation investments, including billions of dollars for affordable housing, clean energy technology, manufacturing investments and money to support caregivers for seniors and the disabled. State and local governments will be able to access the $2 trillion in investments through some existing formulas and by applying for competitive grants.
The Biden administration has proposed paying for the investment through corporate tax increases.
Republicans in Congress object to these increases and are quick to point out that the package strays from more traditional definitions of infrastructure and mixes in items from Democrats’ climate agenda and other wish lists. One Republican who met with Biden Monday said his party could not support legislation that wiped away part of their 2017 tax law with corporate tax increases.
Buttigieg dismissed the question of what is infrastructure as a “semantic debate” Monday and insisted the plan had plenty of bipartisan support.
Connecticut had a hefty backlog of maintenance projects and transportation improvements slated for state investment, but not enough money to make them. That problem has fueled a controversial debate over establishing highway tolls in Connecticut, something Gov. Ned Lamont and other Democrats pushed for, but eventually failed to pass the legislature.
Now state Democrats are advocating for a new user fee assessed on tractor trailer trucks that pass through the state to fund more transportation improvements. That could generate $90 million a year in revenue, said Transportation Committee chairman state Sen. Will Haskell, D-Westport.
Buttigieg said Monday the American Jobs Plan will not eliminate the need for state and local governments to continue their own investments.
“I have not yet seen a case where proposed local investment makes any less sense because the federal government is stepping up,” he said.
Eucalito said Connecticut is viewing funding from the American Jobs Plan as supplemental to state investments and other federal funding for transportation.
“We don’t have a specific dollar amount that we’re looking for, but I think we’re in a good position to receive a larger portion than we would traditionally get for a state the size of Connecticut and part of that is because we are already working and planning in a lot of these areas,” Eucalito said.