Lamont’s transit package includes major commitments to Metro-North

Commuters wait on the platform as a Metro-North train arrives at the Stamford train station on Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2018. Commuters wait on the platform as a Metro-North train arrives at the Stamford train station on Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2018. Photo: Matthew Brown / Hearst Connecticut Media Photo: Matthew Brown / Hearst Connecticut Media Image 1 of / 18 Caption Close Lamont’s transit package includes major commitments to Metro-North 1 / 18 Back to Gallery

HARTFORD — Gov. Ned Lamont’s latest 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 10-year, $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 trucks-only tolls at a time when Democratic lawmakers were contemplating 80 or more tolls for all vehicles. After his January inauguration, Lamont pivoted to support as many as 50 tolls during 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 attempting 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 Metro-North Commuter Railroad, including a new, first-time direct connection from the Danbury and Waterbury branch lines to Grand Central Terminal in New York.

The improvements to the Waterbury line would allow two-way train traffic rather than the current one-way shuttle from Waterbury to Bridgeport and back again. Passengers on 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 dual-power locomotives for Metro-North, 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 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 I-91 near the Charter Oak Bridge in Hartford; along I-95 in Stamford, Westport, West Haven, East Lyme and New London; I-395 in Plainfield; I-684 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 round-trip per day, per toll location. Lamont told reporters there were no plans for congestion pricing that would charge commuters more for morning and afternoon rush hours.

Plans for improvements to Tweed-New 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 wind-power projects targeted for the Atlantic Ocean 40 to 60 miles out to sea.

During a mid-afternoon 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 sales-tax revenues on gas sales.

Lamont said the state’s transportation system, with 65-year-old highways and 100-year-old railroad bridges, are being over-stressed.

“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 out-of-state 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, co-CEO 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, R-Derby, and Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano, R-North 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.”