Leading Connecticut lawmakers and labor officials plan to gather near a midtown Hartford freeway Thursday to call public attention to the need to repair the state’s obsolete bridges and other overtaxed infrastructure.
The Connecticut Laborers’ District Council will lead a press conference at 10 a.m. on Broad Street, near the eastbound on-ramp to Interstate 84.
“Critical infrastructure – bridges, highways, water resources, school facilities and energy systems – in Connecticut have fallen behind, threatening our economy and our competitiveness,” said Charles LeConche, business manager, Connecticut Laborers’ District Council.
He cited federal data reporting that across the state, 1,568 bridges – a third of all bridges – are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. Nearly 60 percent of Connecticut roads are rated as being in less than good condition. Fifty-eight percent of Connecticut’s major urban highways are congested in the Hartford area, causing 9.5 million hours of delay annually and $166 million a year in extra fuel and lost productivity.
Also to attend: John Olsen, president, Connecticut AFL-CIO; state Sen. Donald DeFronzo, chair of the Legislature’s transportation committee; Congressman John Larson; U.S. Sens. Joseph Lieberman and Chris Dodd; and gubernatorial candidate Ned Lamont.