Merritt, I-95, local roads get $175 million
NEW CANAAN — With sounds of traffic whizzing by on the Merritt Parkway, the chairman of the state senate transportation committee Will Haskell led a press conference that highlighted $175 million on infrastructure spending.
The state senator, Sen. Bob Duff and Norwalk Mayor Harvey Rilling stressed the importance of transit to the economy as they spoke in a commuter lot near the parkway.
“It is time to bring our roads, bridges and highways into the 21 century,” Haskell said.
There were two easels with charts outlining where the money goes: $61 million would be for resurfacing the parkway; $98 million to target safety improvements to I 95; $14.8 million for the reconstruction of East Avenue Bridge in Norwalk; and more than $1.5 million for local town roads in Norwalk, Darien and New Canaan.
Of this money, Haskell is particularly looking forward to seeing the parkway resurfacing project completed. It has been in the works for 25 years, which “is literally as old as I am,” he said. The construction has been driving “our constituents crazy.” Area residents will appreciate having the project completed, so construction is not slowing traffic, Haskell added.
The project will widen the parkway in some areas and provide emergency breakdown lanes and narrower medians between Westport and New Canaan, Haskell explained. Although the project is not adding a third lane, traffic should move “a little bit better.”
“Too many constituents spend their mornings and afternoons looking at the tail pipe ahead of them,” Haskell said.
Duff said improvements between Norwalk and New Canaan will help get “people between point a and point b in a more reliable and consistent manner.”
The aid for local town roads includes $906,875 for Norwalk, $341,348 for Darien and $331,787 for New Canaan.
The politicians emphasized the links between the economy and transportation. “We know that Fairfield County is the economic
lifeblood of our state and the parkway, I 95, and metro north are literally the arteries in and out of New York,” Duff said. “People are frustrated because they sit in traffic a lot, and we want people to know we are working hard to make improvements.”
Transportation is important because “we cannot grow jobs, we cannot grow the economy in this state if we are not making crucial investments in infrastructure,” Duff said.
Rilling said he has learned first hand that “when someone is considering
moving a business in Norwalk, or Fairfield County area, one of the things first and foremost on their minds is infrastructure, transportation,” and whether their employees “can get to work.” Infrastructure is “critically important for our economy.”