Funding Transportation Alternatives

The Citizens Against Government Waste has called it “one of the biggest boondoggles in the history of federal spending.” The $286 billion transportation bill passed by Congress just before it departed Washington for its August break and signed by the President this week is packed with more than 6,000 pet projects costing taxpayers $24 billion. It includes many dubious projects like the $3 million documentary film on how much money the government is spending on highways in Alaska (home state of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee chairman, wouldn’t you know). But there is some consolation at the end of this story of egotism, greed, and waste.

After more than two years of wrangling and delay, more than $260 billion in legitimate, long-overdue federal transportation funding will now be spent on the nation’s rickety transportation infrastructure. That is very good news for every hapless soul who must commute on the interstates in Connecticut. The transportation system in Connecticut is near the breaking point. Some people out there waiting in traffic would argue that it has already broken, and economists have been warning for years that the worsening traffic congestion jeopardizes the state’s future prosperity.

This transportation bill allocates about $2.5 billion for highways in the state over the next six years, including $1.6 million for the realignment of the dangerous Church Hill/Edmond Road/Commerce Road intersection. (See story.) The governor’s transportation plan adds another $1 billion in state funding over the next decade. This money will pay for the $600 million widening of I-84 from the New York state line to Waterbury, which will directly affect the traffic and the quality of life in Newtown.

The best news to come out of this federal transportation bill, however, is that alternatives to the traditional remedy for traffic congestion in the state — more and better highways — are finally being considered and funded.

For Connecticut, one of the most promising initiatives is the allocation of $10 million for the construction of the state’s first high-speed ferry terminals in New Haven, Bridgeport, and Stamford. Ferry service on Long Island Sound between these Connecticut cities and Manhattan has the potential to remove thousands of vehicles from I-95, relieving some of the pressure on I-84 from truckers and others seeking to avoid the gridlock in lower Fairfield County. That, in addition to the investment of millions more in rail and bus mass transit systems, promises to bring more options for commuters and a better balance to Connecticut’s transportation system.