The truth about the state’s roads and bridges

Perhaps you’ve noticed a recent television commercial that laments about the deplorable condition of Connecticut’s roads and bridges. This commercial, sponsored by those who stand to gain both financially and politically at the expense of Connecticut taxpayers, makes several assertions that must be debunked.

First up, is the claim that “nobody’s fixing our roads.” Of course this claim is patently false. Connecticut residents and the federal government pay dearly to maintain our roads and bridges; and if “nobody’s fixing our roads” then DOT Commissioner James Redeker needs to start looking for a new job.

The second claim, that $4.3 million in transportation projects were “suspended”, is simply misleading. This so-called “suspension” was implemented solely at the hand of Daniel P. Malloy; who fancies himself as a transportation guru of sorts. Malloy wishes to discard the existing transportation plan, that has already received federal approval (“TransformCT”) to replace it with his own exponentially moreexpensive plan (“Let’s Go CT”) that has not received federal approval.

Malloy’s plan would increase transportation spending from the current one billion dollars per year, to nearly $4 billion per year. This incredible increase would presumably be funded by highway tolls (in addition to the money we currently contribute to the state). Highway tolls are a regressive tax that unfairly places most of the burden on low to mid-income earners who must drive to work and soccer practice; persons who can least afford to pay the estimated oneto-two thousand dollars per year for tolls. While thirty percent of the money collected would come from non-residents, the majority (seventy percent) would come from in-state residents. And without a “transportation lockbox” in place, that money will be spent on pretty much anything, including endless “administrative costs”.

These commercials close with an ominous warning of disaster, should Malloy’s plan not receive your enthusiastic support … a promise of “more traffic and a strangled economy”. Well, if toll stations are installed, there will be more traffic… on the local roads that parallel the highways. And if boondoggles such as this are allowed to continue, our state’s economy will surely be more “strangled” than it is now. So don’t be misled by this commercial, or sold on the premise that tolls are not taxes; they certainly are and Connecticut has already given till it hurts.