Connecticut Business Leaders Look To Jump-Start Malloy's Transportation Plan
HARTFORD, Conn. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Even initial funding for Gov. Dannel Malloy's transportation plan doesn't kick in for three years.
So how does Connecticut get the highway and rail projects moving?
Joe McGee of the Business Council of Fairfield County said the federal government should feel compelled to contribute.
Connecticut Business Leaders Look To Jump-Start Malloy's Transportation Plan
"The federal government has got a stake in the interstate system and the railway," he told WCBS 880 Connecticut Bureau Chief Fran Schneidau. "So a large chunk of this has to be federal dollars."
McGee said a business coalition will announce its plan to invest in rail and mass transit, believing the projects are critical in driving economic growth in Farifield County.
Funding sources being considered, he said, include highway tolls and possibly rush-hour congestion pricing.
On Wednesday, Malloy unveiled a two-year, nearly $40 billion state budget that he said is "filled with tough choice" but includes a major overhaul of the state's aging transportation system.
Malloy told a joint session of the General Assembly that "significant investment" is needed to improve highways, bridges and rail over the next three decades to improve economic development and quality of life.
"Connecticut's economic future and our ability to grow jobs are tied directly to the condition of our roads, bridges, ports, buses and rails, even to our walkways and bikeways," he said.
Malloy's budget includes funding for a five-year "ramp-up" of engineering and design work for some key highway projects, including Hartford's Interstate 84 viaduct and the Waterbury mix-master. However, the governor is leaving it up to the Democrat-controlled Legislature to come up with a funding mechanism by 2018, such as tolls or user fees.
But Malloy's budget director, Ben Barnes, warned reporters earlier in the day that resurrecting tolls in Connecticut won't raise enough revenue.
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