The State of Connecticut is demanding federal funding to replace the Norwalk River Railroad Bridge, a Victorian-era swing bridge that has received a great deal of attention after failing to close twice in the last few weeks. When the Walk Bridge, as it’s known in the industry, gets stuck in the open position, rail service shuts down not only on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, but also on the Metro-North New Haven Line. But federal dollars are going to be hard to come by. According to the Connecticut Mirror:

Connecticut is now competing with a dozen states and even Metro-North’s parent, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, for a share of a $3 billion Federal Transit Administration fund created by Congress in the 2012 Hurricane Sandy relief bill. To replace the bridge, the state is seeking $349 million, more than 10 percent of the entire fund.

If the application fails, there is no other ready funding source for a project estimated to cost $465 million in state and federal funding.

While we don’t dispute that federal transit dollars are few and far between, there is one source of funding that exists within Connecticut. It’s just a question of priorities.

Back on April 7, Governor Malloy announced that the State was applying for federal funds for the Walk Bridge and other hardening investments on the New Haven Line, which he called “the busiest single commuter rail system in America and the backbone of our economy.” But then, one week later at a park-and-ride lot in Waterbury, the governor announced that the State will spend over $400 million to widen 2.7 miles of Interstate 84 — an expansion project based on needs identified in an Environmental Assessment completed in 1998.

This draft Environmental Assessment’s Summary of Need states:

• I-84 experiences congestion today… Currently, however, less than 50 percent of the analyzed freeway segments, ramp junction areas and weaving areas are deficient.
• By the year 2020, the anticipated traffic increase on I-84 will result in deficiencies in more than 50 percent of the same freeway segments, ramp junction areas and weaving areas.

The Summary of Need concludes, “If no transportation improvements… occur within the I-84 study area, peak hour traffic volumes projected for the study design year (2020) will exceed capacity along most of the highway.”

This is where the advantage of hindsight comes in handy. Sixteen years have passed since the EA was published, and it turns out that the “anticipated traffic increase” never panned out. Traffic volumes in 2012 were roughly equal to traffic volumes in 2000, and there’s no reason to suspect that traffic volumes on this highway ever will reach the 2020 projections. Per capita vehicle miles traveled (VMT) across the nation has fallen in each of the last nine years, and Connecticut recently ranked 42nd nationwide in population growth. That’s hardly a recipe for increased traffic. On top of that, the state’s population growth isn’t evenly distributed. In fact, the only Connecticut county that witnessed any significant growth between 2010 and 2013 was Fairfield County (2.5 percent), which also happens to be where the Walk Bridge and the vast majority of New Haven Line reside.

Connecticut certainly deserves the federal funding it has applied for to replace the bridge. But if the application is denied, Governor Malloy, ConnDOT and the traveling public need to think seriously about the future of transportation in Connecticut. Luckily, federal transportation dollars are incredibly flexible and can be used for a variety of purposes. The question is, will Connecticut stick with an expensive plan to widen a small section of highway when more cost-effective options are available, or will they use that funding more wisely to harden the backbone of the state’s economy, provide more transportation choices that will keep young people in the state, and support more sustainable economic and transit-oriented development?