The projects CT wants Biden infrastructure plan to fund

WASHINGTON — Connecticut’s Department of Transportation has already drawn up a list of priority projects it hopes will secure funding from President Joe Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure package that he proposed two weeks ago.

State officials want to nab a bit of the $621 billion earmarked for transportation projects to reduce congestion on Interstate 84 in Danbury, build new bus systems in New Haven, Bridgeport and Stamford, replace three bridges on the New Haven rail line, and upgrade the Stamford Transportation Center, according to a list obtained by Hearst Connecticut Media.

DOT will also prioritize converting all 700 CTTransit buses around the state from diesel to electric over the next 15 years, improve outdated traffic signal technology such as those along the Berlin Turnpike, and upgrading sidewalks, bike lanes and pedestrian signals to reduce traffic deaths.

The state also wants to create a statewide electric vehicle charging network, including faster chargers in heavily trafficked areas. They also hope the money will allow them to reintegrate Hartford and East Hartford, cities divided by Interstate 91 and Interstate 84, a project long championed by U.S. Rep. John Larson, D-1.

Broadly, these projects reflect the state’s goals of reducing congestion, reconnecting neighborhoods, making rail more reliable and improving urban transit systems. These represent long-standing priorities for DOT that it can’t afford to fund today, said Garret Eucalito, deputy commissioner for the state DOT.

The American Jobs Plan — the massive infrastructure package that could fund these projects — is just starting to move its way through Congress and Democrats hope it might be passed over the summer. Many of the priority projects announced DOT align with the objectives of the federal plan including incentivizing electric vehicles, repairing roads and bridges and improving public transportation, especially rail speeds.

“The jobs plan is going to allow states and local government to move forward with long overdue projects to fix roads and bridges, to expand and modernize transit — by the way transit not only in big cities, but in small communities — and connect more of our communities,” said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg Monday. “Any individual community and any state stands to benefit in a big way.”

DOT Commissioner Joseph Giulietti has met with several Biden transportation administrators to highlight Connecticut’s transportation priorities and need for federal partnership, Eucalito said.

As the administration works to build support for the plan, the White House released report cards for every state’s infrastructure Monday, grading Connecticut’s at a C-. The vast majority of states received C or C- grades based on how the conditions of their roads and bridges, public transportation, resilient infrastructure, drinking water, housing, broadband, caregiving, child care, manufacturing, home energy, clean energy jobs and veterans health facilities.

“In Connecticut there are 248 bridges and over 2,100 miles of highway in poor condition,” the White House wrote in its state infrastructure fact sheet. “Since 2011, commute times have increased by 10.9 percent in Connecticut and on average, each driver pays $711 per year in costs due to driving on roads in need of repair.”

The infrastructure package goes well beyond just transportation investments, including billions of dollars for affordable housing, clean energy technology, manufacturing investments and money to support caregivers for seniors and the disabled. State and local governments will be able to access the $2 trillion in investments through some existing formulas and by applying for competitive grants.

The Biden administration has proposed paying for the investment through corporate tax increases.