The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)

Lamont transit plan makes MetroNorth commitment

- By Ken Dixon

HARTFORD — Gov. Ned Lamont’s fourth attempt at persuading Connecticu­t to adopt highway tolls won bipartisan compliment­s on Thursday for its comprehens­ive look at the potential for future highway, rail, bus and air travel to foster economic growth.

But he admitted that the 10year, $20 billion plan hasn’t yet moved any Republican­s to join him. And while Lamont would like the General Assembly to consider the plan in a special legislativ­e session before the end of the year, the political reality is that it will likely enter the legislativ­e process in February, when the House and Senate kick off their regular session.

Lamont conceded Thursday that he has weeks to sell the state on the latest iteration of a transit plan that began during his campaign for governor when he proposed trucksonly tolls. After his January inaugurati­on, he pivoted to support as many as 80 tolls for all

vehicles, then reduced the number down to 50 tolls later in the legislativ­e session.

The new plan proposes 14 strategica­lly placed toll locations on or near state bridges, with dedicated revenue streams to support rehabilita­tion work on each span. Lamont’s offering to sweeten the pot, by offering 5 percent of revenues flowing to the communitie­s that host the highway tolls.

The massive transporta­tion program includes $5 billion in major upgrades to the MetroNorth Commuter Railroad, including a new, firsttime direct connection from the Danbury and Waterbury branch lines to Grand Central Terminal in New York.

The improvemen­ts to the Waterbury line would allow twoway train traffic rather than the current oneway shuttle from Waterbury to Bridgeport and back again. Passengers on both the Danbury and Waterbury lines would no longer have to change cars to get to Grand Central.

Included in the plan are 132 new rail cars and 30 dualpower locomotive­s for MetroNorth, whose 40 million annual passenger trips makes it the busiest train line in the country. Overall, the goal would be to shave as much as 15 minutes off the current train trips to New York.

The tolls would be along Interstate 84 in Newtown, Waterbury and West Hartford; on the Merritt Parkway in Norwalk; on I91 near the Charter Oak Bridge in Hartford; along I95 in Stamford, Westport, West Haven, East Lyme and New London; I395 in Plainfield; I684 in Greenwich on a stretch of road used mostly by New Yorkers; Route 8 in Waterbury; and Route 9 in Middletown.

Toll prices would range from 50 cents to a dollar, with state residents enjoying 20 percent discounts similar to the rates that residents of nearby states get for their highway tolls.

Under the proposal, commuters would not pay for more for than one roundtrip per day, per toll location. Lamont told reporters that there were no plans for congestion pricing that would charge commuters more for morning and afternoon rush hours.

Plans for improvemen­ts to TweedNew Haven Airport in East Haven and Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford are up in the air in the plan, and are to be determined. Both facilities face major obstacles if runways are to be expanded, because neighbors oppose larger planes.

The plan also anticipate­s eventual developmen­t of the state’s major ports, from Stamford, which is not controlled by the state, to Bridgeport, New Haven and New London, which has been the center of Lamont’s hopes to support windpower projects targeted for the Atlantic Ocean 40 to 60 miles out to sea.

During a midafterno­on news conference in a downtown Hartford business center, Lamont conceded that that he would push for the tolls even if Connecticu­t loses eligibilit­y for some federal support, because the state’s dedicated fund for transit improvemen­ts will become insolvent over the next several years due to declining salestax revenues on gas sales.

Lamont said the state’s transporta­tion system, with 65yearold highways and 100yearold railroad bridges, are being overstress­ed.

“The problem really is we have some severe choke points that were built into the design of these highways many years ago,” Lamont said, underscori­ng the need for a revenue stream supported in part by outofstate traffic. “And if we fix these choke points we can dramatical­ly improve commuting times.”

Lamont was joined by union leaders, business executives and members of his administra­tion including, DOT Commission­er Joseph Giulietti, who stressed that state buses carry another 40 million passengers a year. The new transit plan includes revisions to the bus operations along Route 1 from Stamford to Bridgeport.

“It’s time that visitors to our great state of Connecticu­t pay their fair share,” said David Roche, president of the State Building and Constructi­on Trades Council, estimating that Lamont’s plan could create 26,000 jobs a year.

“Let’s play politics with something else besides the foundation of our state,” said H. Darrell Harvey, coCEO and principal of The Ashford Company, a Stamford real estate concern, who says that the economy is faltering because people cannot easily get to work, so they become frustrated and leave their jobs.

Joseph McGee, vice president of the Business Council of Fairfield County and a former state economic developmen­t commission­er, said that Lamont’s new plan is worthy of support.

“Standing here, I just had a thought,” McGee said to a crowd of 100 in a business incubator off Park Street. “You’ve got labor, you’ve got business and you have the governor all aligned. This is a big deal. This is about our economic future.”

The new website for CT2030 went online Thursday morning, around the time that Lamont’s staff briefed Senate majority Democrats in the State Capitol. The website includes interactiv­e maps that briefly explain a variety of proposals.

“No company should be less productive as a result of traffic jams or slow trains and buses,” Lamont said on the new website. “No parent should be late to pick their child up from school because of a traffic signal in the middle of a busy highway, or a preventabl­e delay at a bridge or exit. Our state has the opportunit­y today to make the investment­s and decisions that will pay off for our children tomorrow.”

House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, RDerby, and Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano, RNorth Haven, both praised Lamont’s vision and the details, but backed away from supporting any type of tolls. Fasano said GOP senators are developing their own proposal, which will not include new fees.

Klarides suggested a much smaller plan of about half the scope of the $20 billion.

Lamont said he’s willing to listen to other plans.

Joe Sculley, who as president of the Motor Transport Associatio­n of Connecticu­t represents state truckers, said after Lamont’s announceme­nt that his group still opposes tolls.

“MTAC remains opposed to tolling existing highway capacity, whether that means current highway lanes, or specific bridges,” he said. “As the trucking industry already pays the diesel tax, the Petroleum Gross Receipts Tax, and vehicle registrati­on fees, tolls would be a fourth tax for the privilege of using what we have already paid for.”

 ?? Hearst Connecticu­t Media file photo ?? Commuters wait on the platform as a MetroNorth train arrives at the Stamford train station on Oct. 23, 2018.
Hearst Connecticu­t Media file photo Commuters wait on the platform as a MetroNorth train arrives at the Stamford train station on Oct. 23, 2018.
 ?? Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticu­t Media ?? A train passes through at the Fairfield Metro station.
Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticu­t Media A train passes through at the Fairfield Metro station.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States