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Malloy Forms Panel To Explore How To Pay For $100B In Transportation Fixes

FAIRFIELD COUNTY, Conn. – Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced Tuesday that he is forming a panel to explore ways to pay for his $100 billion plan to improve Connecticut’s transportation infrastructure over the next 30 years.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announces the formation of the Transportation Finance Panel to explore how to fund a modernization of the state's transportation infrastructure.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announces the formation of the Transportation Finance Panel to explore how to fund a modernization of the state's transportation infrastructure.

Photo Credit: Office of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy

During his budget address earlier this year Malloy outlined a five-year plan of projects and a 30-year vision to transform the state’s transportation infrastructure.

This includes plans to widen I-95, fix the I-84 viaduct in Hartford, finish the design of the New Haven-Springfield rail line, add new stations along the New Haven line, expand bus service, expedite routine bridge upgrades, and add new bikeways and railways. The five-year plan is expected to cost $10 billion, and the 30-year vision could cost $100 billion.

“While some have offered suggestions on how to partly finance this necessity, what we realistically need is a cohesive, coordinated strategy, a system that can withstand the needs of these improvements over the long term,” Malloy said.

Malloy hasn’t ruled out adding tolls on the highways to pay for the projects but said tolls would likely only pay for about a third of the costs required.

“I want to be clear here, they can be part of the discussion, but tolls aren’t going to solve the problem in and of themselves,” he said.

The Transportation Finance Panel will be chaired by Cameron Staples, president and CEO of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges and former co-chair of the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee in the Connecticut General Assembly. It will also include experts in transportation, finance and economic development. Malloy said the panel will begin meeting in April and are expected to conclude its work by the end of the summer.

Malloy said that he doesn’t know whether any action will be taken on the panel’s recommendations in this legislative session, as the General Assembly is busy working on the state’s budget. But he says that there is a growing consensus in the state that Connecticut needs to modernize its transportation infrastructure.

“I’m actually very encouraged by how robust the discussion about transportation is and how supportive the conversation is. But the conversation cannot be completed until we know how we’re going to pay for it,” Malloy said. “Otherwise, we will commit the same errors that prior legislators and prior legislatures and governors have made when it comes to transportation, and that is to have no organized, long-term plan that’s sustainable.”

A group of New York State legislators on Tuesday asked Connecticut to hear their input about any possible toll booths near the border on I-95. Read about that here on the Daily Voice. 

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