Taking On Gridlock—

Rell Taps Executive To Oversee Transportation Policy

HARTFORD (AP) — Gov M. Jodi Rell on Tuesday tapped a Fairfield County executive to oversee the board that handles statewide transportation policy.

Kevin Kelleher, president and CEO of Cendant Mobility Services Corp in Danbury, will replace Nelson “Oz” Griebel as head of the state’s Transportation Strategy Board when Griebel’s five-year term ends on June 30.

Kelleher’s appointment comes as the General Assembly prepares to meet in special session this month to take up some unfinished business, including Rell’s $1.3 billion, ten-year transportation improvement package. The bill includes money for 340 new Metro-North commuter rail cars and various highway improvements designed to ease the congestion on Connecticut’s highways.

But both Kelleher and Griebel said that $1.3 billion is just a first step toward tackling Connecticut’s gridlock problem.

“Our needs as a state continue to grow,” said Kelleher, who lives in Rell’s hometown of Brookfield. “I think this is a never-ending journey. I think it’s really about the vision, the acceptance of the vision, what people need to recognize with respect to the needs for both today and tomorrow.”

The Transportation Strategy Board was created in 2000 to help come up with a comprehensive transportation plan for the state. In 2003, the group recommended about nearly $5 billion worth of projects, but the state legislature has not approved most of that spending.

The sticking point has been how to raise the necessary revenue.

Rell initially called for increasing the state gas tax to pay for her $1.3 billion initiative. The Democrat-controlled legislature, however, instead proposed a five percent tax on the earnings of petroleum companies to 7.8 percent by 2014.

The tax is expected to raise about $900 million, roughly the same amount as Rell’s plan.

The board has suggested raising the gas tax by three cents per gallon over five years to pay for its initiatives. Board members also have asked the legislature to study the feasibility of a toll system to collect more revenue for transportation projects.

“Without it, without some new source of funding, all the other things this board has worked on and identified in this 2003 report are not going to become a reality,” Griebel said.

New Haven Mayor John DeStefano, whose city sits at the congested intersection of several highways, said the state’s transportation strategy is failing.

“It doesn’t matter to me who’s in charge of the Transportation Strategy Board. It’s really irrelevant. The job’s not getting done,” DeStefano said. “I have a port that needs rail and an airport that needs to grow. The highway infrastructure is broken and it’s stopping job growth in the city and the region.”

Griebel said he understands why Rell wanted to appoint her own person to chair the strategy board. He said he plans to remain active in transportation issues and hopes to encourage the legislature to study tolls.

Rell, who thanked Griebel for his years of service, said the board has made strides since 2000 in identifying key transportation projects across Connecticut and making smaller improvements that have helped the lives of motorists.

For example, the board has brought highway ramp improvements and lane improvements to the attention of the state Department of Transportation, she said.

“Those are the things that matter and that’s what’s happening,” said Rell. “You don’t see the little improvements, but they are very, very important to the municipalities.”