Lock The Transportation Fund
State Rep. Guerrera Says Diverting Money Endangers Our Roads, Bridges, Tunnels And Rails
During my 18 years in the General Assembly, including 14 years as House chairman of the transportationcommittee, I’ve witnessed governors and legislative leaders raid the state’s Special Transportation Fund to avoid tough choices during short-term budget crunches. In doing so, they diverted millions upon millions of dollars, particularly in gas tax revenues, away from transportation projects. This has been not only a breach of the public trust, it has greatly undermined our ability to fund the state’s desperately needed infrastructure safety and needed upgrades.
On Nov. 6, the voters of Connecticut will finally have the chance approve the ballot Question 1, which will create a constitutional “lockbox” to ensure that dollars set aside for transportation will actually be spent on transportation. This is not a Democratic issue or a Republican issue. It’s an issue that affects the life of every single resident of Connecticut.
For decades, the state has failed to invest adequately in our transportation infrastructure. As a result, the condition of our roads, bridges, tunnels and rails is increasingly alarming. Chunks of concrete are falling off the Hartford I-84 viaduct, I-95 turns into a parking lot most hours of the day and the Merritt Parkway simply cannot support the current volume of traffic.
We are endangering ourselves, our loved ones and the future of our state by failing to safeguard transportation dollars. Consider this: 47 percent of state-maintained roadways are in less than good condition, and that number could grow to 71 percent over the next 30 years. Connecticut has 334 bridges and one tunnel rated in poor condition. Nearly a third of those bridges were built prior to 1950. On the New Haven Rail Line, the busiest commuter rail line in the country, 76 percent of rail bridges were built before 1940, and four of those bridges were built more than a century ago. It would be nothing short of gross negligence for Connecticut to wait for a major bridge to fail before acting.
Our historic lack of infrastructure investment is also harming our economy. The economic cost of traffic congestion in Connecticut is at least $4.2 billion annually, with some estimates putting it at more than $5 billion. Business leaders continually rank highway accessibility as their No. 1 concern in deciding where to locate their businesses. We must take steps to support highway improvements for their job-creating growth.
Simply put, transportation investments are crucial to our state’s long-term interests. The good news is that over the last eight years, we’ve had a governor and legislative leaders who did the hard work of redirecting previously diverted gas tax revenues back into the Transportation Fund. Still, the risk remains that future governors and future legislatures may revert to old habits and once again raid the Transportation Fund instead of meeting budget needs head on.
It’s also true that the state passed legislation in 2015 to try to protect the Transportation Fund, but that’s not enough. It remains far too easy for future legislatures to circumvent that law. That’s why we need to go a step further, and why a constitutional lockbox is absolutely essential. People and businesses from Stonington to Greenwich, from New Haven to Enfield and from Danbury to New London have spoken loudly and clearly. We need to upgrade our infrastructure to be competitive. Connecticut citizens deserve the assurance that money set aside for transportation will be used only for transportation.
We have an opportunity, and we need to seize it. We need to upgrade our infrastructure to be competitive, and this state deserves nothing less than a best-in-class transportation system. A “yes” vote Nov. 6 on Question 1 will be a vital step toward achieving Connecticut’s safer and more dynamic transportation future.