Transit plan makes a good starting point

The Lamont administration, to its credit, learned some lessons from the disastrous rollout of the last version of its transportation plan.

That proposal, which included dozens of tolls spread across Connecticut highways, not only reversed a Lamont campaign promise to charge only trucks for highway driving, but also neglected to spell out exactly what all that new revenue would fund.

That plan was a nonstarter in the Legislature, with Democrats, knowing there was zero hope of bipartisan support, refusing to bring it up for a vote and then declining over the summer to reconvene in a special session to discuss the proposal.

The new version, dubbed CT2030, puts the projects that would be paid for front and center. And those projects include any number of necessary provisions as Connecticut looks to boost prosperity by providing a reliable means to get around the state.

Mass transit is a top priority, with investment slated not just for the main New Haven Line but also on the branches. Reliable service at stops on those branches would be a major economic development boon, and the Lamont plan calls for morefrequent service that would allow transferfree passage to New York City for the first time.

Then there are the tolls, sure to be the most divisive aspect in a state that has for decades eschewed the practice of charging drivers a user fee. Rather than the scattershot method unveiled earlier this year, the new plan would focus on 14 bridges around the state with charges ranging between 50 cents and a dollar with discounts for state residents. Trucks would pay up to $7.

Importantly, any vehicle equipped with a transponder would not pay more than one roundtrip user fee per gantry in any 24hour period, which would be a break for many residents and businesses.

Other revenue for the $21 billion plan would come from federal borrowing and other sources, but it’s the tolls that present the biggest challenge. Elected officials in the affected towns will be understandably skeptical, but it’s difficult to see where the state could raise enough revenue to fund necessary changes without tolls. If Republicans have a plan to do so, now is the time to introduce it.

Also worth a mention is the Lamont administration’s continuing insistence that it can solve traffic bottlenecks by adding lanes, as it plans to do on I95 west of New Haven. The governor points to the recently completed Waterbury I84 project that added a lane and had a significant impact on traffic in that stretch of road.

But in Waterbury, a threelane highway inexplicably narrowed to two lanes just as it neared the city lines, and the $330 million project was aimed at correcting that mistake and making the highway three lanes all the way through.

That’s not the case on I95. There, it’s a consistent three lanes of traffic that the state wants to widen, reasoning that it would get the same benefits that accrued in Waterbury. There’s good reason to think that won’t happen, and Lamont needs to explain why previous studies relating to induced demand are not applicable before any plans are approved.

It’s difficult to see where the state could raise enough revenue to fund necessary changes without tolls. If Republicans have a plan to do so, now is the time to introduce it.