Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy made an historic announcement today that will set the tone for the state’s transportation priorities for the next three decades. Speaking at the State Capitol in Hartford, the governor outlined a 30-year, multi-modal vision for Connecticut’s transportation system, which includes not only upgrades to aging highways and bridges, but also railway improvements, new bus rapid transit lines, and funding to improve pedestrian and bicyclist safety.

The governor’s vision will extend well beyond his time in office. What he will oversee, however, is the five-year “ramp-up,” which invests an additional $2.8 billion above the State’s expected levels of transportation funding. That $2.8 billion is front-loaded with $1.7 billion for railway improvements, which can be accomplished “faster and cheaper than big-ticket interstate jobs.”

The full 30-year, $100 billion plan, introduced today as “Let’s Go CT,” is being billed as a “Bold Vision for a Transportation Future.” How bold? Here are some of the highlights:

• New Haven Line overhaul  $2 billion for frequency and speed upgrades, resulting “in a two–track local and two–track express service on the mainline, with center island platforms at key locations between New Haven and New York”
• Waterbury Branch improvements  $350 million for signalization, grade crossings, sidings, and station improvements to improve service between Bridgeport and Waterbury
• Bus service enhancements  $265 million to expand frequency of high-demand bus routes, consolidate and simplify routes, add late night and weekend service, and implement other improvements such as real-time information and new fare media
• Pedestrian and bicyclist safety  $250 million ($10 million/year for 25 years) for sidewalks and bicycle facilities in Connecticut’s urban centers
• CTfastrak expansion  $100 million to extend the CTfastrak bus rapid transit system from Downtown Hartford to the eastern suburbs of East Hartford, Manchester, Buckland, and Vernon

While there are several other key transit improvements included in Lets Go CT, the plan also calls for several billion dollars in highway expansion projects.

The plan calls for widening Interstate 95 between New Haven and the New York border, which is expected to cost — wait for it — $9 billion.

Let’s Go CT also proposes widening I-95 in southeastern Connecticut. The segment between Branford, just east of New Haven, to Old Saybrook would cost $720 million; widening the segment between Groton to the Rhode Island border would cost another $290 million.

On top of that, the plan calls for adding lanes to Interstate 84 between Danbury and Waterbury. But with a price tag of $1.5 billion, is it worth it? The state is already on the hook for a $260 million, 2.7-mile widening of I-84 in Waterbury. And we haven’t even gotten to the part about wider roads exacerbating congestion, not relieving it.

What’s not in the vision is how to fill the funding gap of $3.8 billion in the five-year ramp-up. The $10 billion in total spending assumes $3.4 billion in federal support and $2.8 billion in new state bonding. Tolls — which have been outlawed in Connecticut since the 1980s — have been discussed recently, but they were not included in the Governor’s announcement.