Can’t get there from here
Legislative candidates steer through transportation problems
GREENWICH — Each candidate running for the General Assembly from Greenwich agrees Connecticut’s aging transportation infrastructure and pervasive traffic congestion hinders economic growth and makes life more difficult for residents.
But they differ in their approaches to fixing those problems.
Some propose imposing highway tolls on commercial and out-of-state traffic. Others are in favor of putting transportation funding in a “lockbox” so money cannot be diverted to other needs in the general budget. Still other ideas include making weigh stations open 24 hours again to collect more fees from tractor trailer operators, and seeking partnerships with the private sector.
Tolls
The starkest difference between Greenwich’s Republican incumbents in the Legislature and the Democrats challenging them is on the subject of returning tolls to state highways.
State Sen. L. Scott Frantz, R-36th, does not support implementing any tolls on Connecticut’s highways.
“I believe most people have already paid enough gas, sales, gross receipt taxes and registration fees to have
paid their fair share of maintenance and improvements,” he said.
Alexandra Bergstein, the Democrat running to unseat Frantz, supports making Interstates 95 and 84 toll roads with new technology at a cost of 10 cents a mile for all drivers.
“Tolls bring in billions of dollars from new sources, not our tax dollars,” she said. “And we can leverage that revenue with private financing to generate funding for major, transformative infrastructure projects — like high-speed trains and a new transportation center and parking structure in Stamford.”
If put into place now, tolls would cripple the state’s economy, said State Rep. Mike Bocchino, R-150th, because of the lack of a lockbox on transportation funds.
And tolling commercial trucks now doesn’t make sense, Bocchino said, because Rhode Island is currently tied up in litigation with the trucking industry over its new tolls.
“Why should we start to do that when they’re gonna wind up in the (U.S.) Supreme Court?” Bocchino said.
Steve Meskers, Democratic challenger for Bocchino’s seat, is in favor of tolling out-of-state drivers and trucks, because he said 35 percent of I-95’s traffic is made up of cars traveling from other states and 20 percent is commercial.
“We are running a multistate charity on our roads, but I get to pay for all repairs,” he said. “It is just plain bad policy. Tolls would capture out-of-state revenue and make non residents pay their fair share. Additionally, I would consider congestion pricing for commercial trucks, which would ease our rush-hour traffic and make our work commute safer and faster.”
State Rep. Fred Camillo, R-151st, said legislators should first take a look at where tax dollars are being spent and other possible streams of revenue before resorting to tolls.
“One party says we need money for transportation, so we’re gonna shake taxpayers for more,” he said. “Their constant knee-jerk reaction is to put tolls up.”
Blanket tolls for all drivers would ultimately hurt a workforce struggling to make ends meet, said Camillo.
“People like teachers, firemen and police officers don’t all live in Greenwich,” he said. “They have to live where it’s cheaper and commute. You’re gonna start nickeling and diming them with tolls. I don’t want to make their lives any harder than they are.”
Laura Kostin, Camillo’s Democratic challenger, supports a “measured and gradual” approach to tolls. Electronic toll passes for truck drivers is something she would consider.
“Since we are a key passthrough state for commerce, it makes no sense to me that we give these trucks that cause 90 percent of the damage to our roads a free ride on their way to other states,” she said.
Main challenges
Poor management of funds has been the biggest hurdle preventing solutions to Connecticut’s transportation woes from becoming reality, said Frantz.
“One of the biggest problems in the past was the raiding of the Special Transportation Fund to pay for General Fund expenses and the administration’s wasteful spending on large projects that are not serving the public well,” he said.
Bergstein said partisanship has kept lawmakers from finding solutions.
“When elected officials refuse to tackle tough problems and don’t work to advance innovative solutions because they might be ‘unpopular’ they are failing to do their job,” she said.
Bocchino, said strengthening railways and bridges to hold commercial freight cars would ease traffic and stimulate the economy. He also believes expanding flights offered at Bradley International Airport would help save travelers time and avoid longer commutes to bigger airports.
“Wasteful spending” has contributed to Connecticut’s ongoing transportation problems, he said. On that point, he and his opponent agree.
“Poor planning and a lack of dedicated funding combined with a reduction in the gas tax collection due to better fuel efficiencies, and many prior administrations raiding the transportation funds for general budgetary funding, have held the state back,” said Meskers.
Fixing congested roads and decaying bridges are priorities for Camillo. The approach of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and Transportation Commissioner James Redeker has held the state back from making progress, Camillo said.
“The next governor might pick someone more private-sector oriented,” he said.
Kostin, said a long history of under-investing in commuter and freight rail is contributing to traffic congestion and the decay of infrastructure. Better investment would also reduce carbon emissions, she added.
“Some of our neighboring states have water ports, where goods and services are shipped,” said Kostin. “This is another area where we lag.”
Public and private partnerships
Seeking partnerships with private companies to fund transportation initiatives is worth a try, Frantz said, but added there are very few examples to look to as success stories.
Bergstein said she would be open to such partnerships because “immediate action” is needed to bring the state’s infrastructure into the 21st Century.
Bocchino said he’s a “huge supporter” of publicprivate partnerships and believes lawmakers should be open to agreements with companies to work toward common goals.
Meskers said he supports public and private partnerships given the “state of disrepair of our infrastructure.”
Camillo said he is in favor of corporate sponsorship of rail cars and has had bipartisan talks with other representatives about the prospect.
“We can get a lot of private money, so much so that I think we could probably lower train fares,” he said.
Kostin agrees partnering with companies to fund necessary infrastructure upgrades would be a positive step, adding the new construction it would generate would create jobs and become an economic driver for the region.
Candidates in all three races will take part in debate at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Greenwich Town Hall.