‘This station needs a major overhaul’
Lamont pushes for upgrades to Stamford Transportation Center
STAMFORD — Gov. Ned Lamont came to Stamford on Friday to hold up the city’s train station as an example of the kind of facility that would benefit from his transportation funding proposals, and Democratic lawmakers were on hand to trumpet their support.
Lamont was joined at the Stamford Transportation Center by the commissioner of the state’s Department of Transportation, Joseph Giulietti, as well as three state representatives, a state senator, Mayor David Martin and U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal.
“The people who live and work in Stamford know firsthand that this station needs a major overhaul,” Giulietti said. “As the gateway to Connecticut, we have to modernize this facility and address how customers navigate it, from access to shuttle operation to pedestrian pathways and overall customer experience.”
Giulietti noted that the state DOT plans to seek input from the public on how the train station — which is Connecticut’s busiest — could be improved.
“There is no question we have a lot of work to do,” Giulietti said. “But let me be very clear, without (a) new funding stream, proposed by the governor, without a highway-use fee on heavy trucks, and without (the
Transportation Climate Initiative), without any mechanism to stabilize transportation funding in our state, we cannot upgrade the Stanford Transportation Center, and we will not be able to meet the city’s transportation needs of today and tomorrow.”
Giulietti was referring to Lamont’s proposal to impose a mileage-based fee on large trucks and a regional program to lower carbon emissions. Lamont championed
both at another train station — the Metro-North Railroad station in Waterbury — last month.
On Friday, state Sen. Will Haskell, D-New Canaan, and state Reps. Matt Blumenthal, Caroline Simmons and Daniel Fox, all Democrats who represent parts of Stamford, stood with Lamont as he touted his proposals.
“We got to tell our friends up in Hartford, you can’t get something for nothing,” Lamont said. “We’ve got to step up and do our part. We got to pay for our fair share.”
“I know it’s not easy,” the governor added.
Blumenthal noted that President Joe Biden’s American Jobs Plan proposed $80 billion in spending on Amtrak. Blumenthal also wants an “intercity rail trust fund,” which would be similar to the trust funds that exist for highways and aviation, to be established.
“This will be the fight of this presidency to make sure the American Jobs Plan is achieved, and right now, we’re running into a real buzz saw, as you know — Republican opposition,” Blumenthal said.