With the recent release of bus, rail and greenway projects, the Connecticut Economic Recovery Working Group has finished allocating the $440 million for transportation received from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), otherwise known as the stimulus bill. A full list of transportation projects funded under ARRA is available at ConnDOT’s website.
The Working Group should be applauded for heeding advocates’ calls to emphasize maintenance and repair when funding road and bridge projects. Virtually all the road projects put out to bid will be for upgrading structurally deficient and functionally obsolete roads and bridges, repaving and striping existing roadways, and improving traffic signals, projects that are cost-effective and create more jobs than road and bridge expansion projects. Prioritizing these projects recognizes the need to upgrade Connecticut’s existing road and bridge infrastructure which ranks fifth- and tenth-worst, respectively, in the country.
The Working Group also fully allocated its transit and Transportation Enhancement (which generally funds bicycle and pedestrian projects) funding from the stimulus package, dedicating dollars to needed bus procurement, New Haven Line station improvements and various streetscaping, bike trail and transit access projects.
Historically, ConnDOT has prioritized road and bridge expansion over transit and maintenance of existing road infrastructure. But this time around, ConnDOT chose not to fund even the ready-to-go road widening projects that made it onto its preliminary stimulus project list. Could this be a fundamental shift in the way ConnDOT does business?
Unfortunately it is a bit too early to tell. ConnDOT Commissioner Joe Marie, however, has been saying the right things, emphasizing the need to create a more balanced transportation system in Connecticut and the importance of transit-oriented development (TOD) in solving the State’s long term congestion problems. The ultimate test will be the release of the draft Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP), the blueprint on how Connecticut prioritizes its transportation dollars, in late spring or early summer.
[…] not the first time MTR has reported on the slow speed of New York’s stimulus process. While Connecticut and New Jersey have already determined the projects which will receive stimulus funds, New York […]
ConnDOT is to be applauded for its smart choices. Still, if they end up spending $600+ million on the busway and $1+ billion on the Q Bridge, they may end up looking penny-wise, pound-foolish.
[…] policy or just that maintenance projects were easier for ConnDOT to get out the door. As MTR has previously said, the upcoming release of the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program will reveal the […]