The specter of an illuminated electronic tolling gantry somewhere on the eastbound straightaway of Interstate 84 between Exit 11 and the Housatonic River bridge has evaporated — for now — eliciting reactions from Newtown delegation lawmakers and local officials who supported municipal resolutions opposing the statewide transportation proposal that has been a primary focus of Governor Ned Lamont’s since he took office in 2019.

According to ctmirror.org, Gov Lamont effectively gave up February 19 on Senate Democrats ever calling a promised vote on truck tolls, telling reporters his administration was ready to explore alternative funding sources for transportation. Senate Democratic leaders protested they would have been ready to vote next week, a claim the governor did not find credible.

“Don’t say, ‘I can’t make up my mind, I need another week, I need another week, I need another week,’” Gov Lamont told reporters in a hastily called press conference after legislative leaders left his office, refusing to comment. “I’ve heard that for a year, and I’ve lost patience.”

Senate President Pro Tem Martin M. Looney, D-New Haven, canceled a vote that had been tentatively planned for the following day, blaming a 30-hour filibuster threatened by Republicans as reason to once again pause and regroup. Republicans fired back saying the Senate Democrat blaming a potential GOP filibuster for the cancellation was pretext; Democrats did not have the necessary votes for passage.

Republican minority leaders, Senator Len Fasano of North Haven and Rep Themis Klarides of Derby, whose caucuses were uniformly opposed to any form of tolls or new transportation revenue, said the issue of tolls was almost certainly dead for the rest of a three-month session that ends May 6. Sen Fasano said legislators were ready to tackle other issues and set aside a fight that had “sucked the oxygen” out of the Capitol, while Rep Klarides said she hoped the governor learned a lesson about trying to keep pushing an issue that clearly had run aground.

Republican Senator Tony Hwang, whose 28th District includes Newtown, told The Newtown Bee that the legislature should take the governor’s “Tolls Pause” statement as a sign that it is time to move away from the current tolls proposal and consider alternatives to invest in transportation in a way that does not put more burdens on taxpayers and onto communities shouldering the unintended consequences on local quality of life disruptions and public safety.

The senator also praised Newtown’s Board of Selectmen and Legislative Council for issuing resolutions opposing tolls they believe would have negatively impacted local traffic, public safety response times, and business access.

“I particularly want to acknowledge Newtown’s Legislative Council and the Board of Selectmen for their united and bipartisan ‘No Tolls’ resolution to protect against the unintended consequences of toll diversion traffic,” he said. “Their effort in collaboration with Newtown’s state delegation was a powerful message that was heard loud and clear in Hartford.”

‘Options Available’

Sen Hwang said Connecticut does not need tolls.

“There are options available to address the issues with transportation infrastructure,” he said. “We can make a significant investment to improve our roads, railways, and bridges by adopting smart fiscal policies, better managing state dollars by demanding greater efficiencies, and leveraging available federal aid.”

He also touted a Senate Republican solution dubbed FASTR CT, a plan that would invest as much in transportation as the governor’s latest toll plan, but without tolls, without tax increases, and with significantly less borrowing.

“The public deserves a clearly defined plan and a bipartisan transparent state legislative process to tackle the needs of our transportation infrastructure needs,” Sen Hwang said. “I look forward to moving toward viable solutions for Connecticut’s transportation system with colleagues on both sides of the aisle.”

Newtown State Rep Mitch Bolinsky said, “It was inevitable that the governor’s fixation with tolls would grind to a halt because he could not muster the support needed to call a vote in either the House or the Senate.”

In the end, Rep Bolinsky observed, “The opposition was loud and clear from both sides of the aisle and, despite countless bluffs about ‘having the votes’, there were far more questions than answers about what was actually on the table.”

“A governor’s job is to lead by bringing people together around a well-conceived, well communicated plan that creates open dialog and leads to consensus or compromise,” Rep Bolinsky said. “None of that happened on this issue because no two people shared a common understanding about the specifics of any of the governor’s rapidly changing plans, their potential impacts, or costs versus revenue projections that were not subject to change every few days.”

Rep Bolinsky said he heard loud and clear from constituents that for Newtown, the governor’s last plan to erect toll gantries at the Rochambeau Bridges would have created a diversion of toll-avoiding heavy trucks rolling over the “Silver Bridge,’ through Sandy Hook, up or down Church Hill Road, or by the high school — and up or down Wasserman Way.

“This would have disturbed quiet neighborhoods, damaged local roads, and created traffic tie-ups that would have affected all of us in some adverse way,” he added.

“Newtown leaders, seeing this, came together with our state legislative delegation to unanimously pass a resolution raising our community’s concerns directly to Governor Lamont and expressing our opposition to the plan. I want to give a giant shout-out to the leadership of First Selectman Dan Rosenthal, our Newtown Board of Selectmen and the Legislative Council for coming together the way they did to make a statement that,in my opinion, ultimately was heard and made a difference.”

Rep Raghib Allie-Brennan who’s Second District represents several neighborhoods in western Newtown, told The Newtown Bee that he has “vocally and consistently expressed my opposition to tolls.”

“Since it appears that, for now, the issue of tolls is off the table, I will remain open to other viable, financially responsible options to meet Connecticut’s transportation needs,” Rep Allie-Brennan said. “We all know the state’s transportation infrastructure requires upgrades, improvements, and repairs so we must move forward to seek the best possible solution that does not place a financial burden on state residents. I will reach across the aisle to secure a bipartisan solution we can all support.”

‘Substantial’ Impact

Rep JP Sredzinski of the 112th District, which includes several neighborhoods near Monroe, called the impact on Newtown’s local roads “substantial,” with the governor proposing a toll gantry on I-84 on the Newtown/Southbury line.

“Moreover, the diversion of the Special Transportation Fund needs to stop, and proper resources need to be allocated to our infrastructure,” Rep Sredzinski said. “However, the biggest issue with this tolls saga has been the lack of trust: lack of trust between Democrat legislators, lack of trust between the governor and the legislature, and the lack of trust of our government as a whole by the residents it claims to serve. Only until we rebuild the trust can we move our state forward with a strategic plan.”

The Board of Selectmen participated unanimously in the local effort offering a resolution opposing tolls. First Selectman Dan Rosenthal said given that Newtown was one of 12 or so communities that would have had a toll, he felt strongly that Newtown should make a statement out of concern over the potential impact it could have on residents’ quality of life.

“I was happy that both the Board of Selectmen and Legislative Council unanimously shared the same concern,” he added. “Last week’s news that the toll plan was off the table is good news for our community as I don’t feel the concerns we raised had been answered. Moving forward, both parties need to come together to solve Connecticut’s transportation problem or I’m afraid we’ll be in the same place in a year.”

Selectman Jeff Capeci said he was happy to hear the proposal was defeated this year.

“Newtown residents would have been adversely affected not only by the additional financial burden to those who commute to work but also as a quality of life issue as trucks looking to avoid the toll spill out on our local streets especially in Sandy Hook,” Mr Capeci said. “I am hopeful Governor Lamont and the leadership in the General Assembly come up with an infrastructure funding plan that will not include tolls in the next biennium.”

Relief All Around

Selectman Maureen Crick Owen admitted she “was relieved to learn that Governor Lamont withdrew his plan for tolls.”

She said a gantry on Interstate 84 in Newtown would have negatively impacted the residents and roadways of Newtown in many ways as outlined in the resolutions adopted unanimously by her colleagues and the council.

“In my opinion, more work needs to be done if a plan is to be presented again,” she said. “There needs to be more discussion by our state officials on the impact of tolls on our residents and businesses in working toward a bipartisan long-term solution to solve Connecticut’s transportation infrastructure.”

Council Chairman Paul Lundquist said he, too, was “relieved for the very same reasons that the Legislative Council passed a unanimous, bipartisan resolution opposing the installation of toll gantries in Newtown.”

Mr Lundquist said the council was unified in its concern for the unintentional consequences of shifting commercial trucking traffic onto our local roads.

“No one at the state level had taken the time to fully understand the likelihood or volume of traffic [diverting] through our local roads to avoid a toll charge — 18-wheelers rolling through local streets in Sandy Hook and elsewhere could have a materially negative impact to the quality of life for town residents and businesses,” the council chairman said. “As local representatives, it was easy to oppose the idea, at least until the impact is fully studied and understood.

“Truth is, viable alternatives to fund the state’s transportation infrastructure program are lacking. I still believe it’s probably not a matter of if, but when we’ll see tolls in Connecticut at some point in the future,” Mr Lundquist added, “but I’m glad it won’t start this year.”