Feds: Connecticut would see at least $5.5 billion under infrastructure bill

HARTFORD — Connecticut’s share of the trilliondollar infrastructure legislation before Congress would be about $5.5 billion over the next five years, plus the opportunity for competitive grants, according to details released by the White House Thursday morning.

The total includes $3.5 billion for highway construction; at least $561 million for bridge replacements; $1.3 billion to improve public transit; $53 million to install more electric vehicle charging stations; and $100 million to expand broadband internet access.

The competitive awards include a $12.5 billion bridge program and a $16 billion pot of money for economic development.

The programs were detailed in a White House fact sheet, based on the bill as it currently awaits action in the U.S. Senate. Earlier this week, U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy voiced optimism that the legislation would pass as soon as this week.

In reaction, Gov. Ned Lamont on Thursday morning said that state priorities were detailed back in 2019, including a 10-year, $14 billion highway and bridges program, along with $7 billion for public transit.

“I think we’re going to leverage off of those priorities and make sure we take full advantage of these federal monies,” Lamont said after an unrelated event in the Legislative Office Building in Hartford.

“It’s money long overdue. Some of it are grants, they are competitive grants and our Department of Transportation has to be at the front of the line to make sure we get our share of those grants, and some of it is 80-20 where we have to put up our share of the monies and we put in place a budget where we provide our share.”

Lamont’s CT2030 proposal, which was originally based on toll revenue from heavy interstate trucks, included $2 billion in rail improvements; widening the Interstate-95 northbound bottleneck between exits 19 and 27A in Fairfield and Bridgeport at a cost of more than $350 million; and $300 million to smooth out congestion at the I-91/ I-84 junction in Hartford.

“Everybody wants infrastructure,” Lamont said, recalling the historic reluctance of lawmakers, including this year, when Democrats balked at supporting a regional Transportation Climate Initiative that would have raised gas prices by five cents a gallon. “Everybody knows how important it is. There’s a lot of discussion on how you pay for it. There is no such thing as a free bridge.”

The White House summary noted that Connecticut has 248 bridges and more than 2,100 miles of highway listed as in poor condition, while commute times have increase nearly 11 percent over the last decade. The poor roads cost state drivers more than $700 a year.