🔒DOT’s new freight plan steers $84M in federal funds to three highway projects

Connecticut transportation officials have released a draft freight plan that would direct $84.4 million in federal funding to three highway projects through 2031 while identifying truck parking shortages, rail bottlenecks and highway congestion as the state’s biggest challenges. The draft plan, released Wednesday, outlines Connecticut's freight investment priorities for the next five years. Federal law requires states to periodically update freight plans to remain eligible for National Highway Freight Program funding. About $77.6 million would fund improvements at two interchanges, the junctions of I-91 and I-691 with Route 15 in Meriden and Middletown. The projects carry total costs of $273.3 million and $379.2 million, with the remainder funded through other state and federal sources. The third project is an $18.6 million widening of I-84 in Waterbury that would extend an existing truck climbing lane near Exit 17 into a continuous auxiliary lane to Exit 18. The corridor is one of several where trucks make up 20% or more of all traffic, according to the plan. Trucks moved 127.6 million tons of goods worth $293.9 billion through Connecticut in 2024, accounting for about 76% of all freight. The DOT expects the value of freight moving through the state will nearly double by 2050. The plan also identifies an ongoing shortage of truck parking. The state has roughly 1,238 truck parking spaces, and 92% of demand is concentrated on I-95, I-84, I-91 and I-395, mostly overnight. Demand is projected to grow 18% by 2040. Drivers often must either stop early to secure a parking space or continue driving and risk exhausting their federally mandated hours of service before finding parking. A $31 million statewide expansion of truck parking is underway, according to the document. The first phase added 12 spaces at the Middletown rest area on I-91. A second phase will add 30 in Southington, and planned phases in Madison, Vernon and Enfield are slated to add another 320. The DOT is also working with the University of Connecticut to assess a real-time parking information system and companion app that would tell drivers where spaces are open. The plan documents continued opposition to Connecticut’s Highway Use Fee, which took effect in January 2023. Trucking groups have objected to the fee’s impact on shipping costs and the logistics of mileage reporting, the plan notes, and lawmakers shifted reporting from monthly to quarterly in 2023 to address some concerns. In the DOT’s own survey of truck drivers and law enforcement, conducted last fall, the Highway Use Fee ranked fourth among the industry’s top concerns, behind congestion, safety and poor pavement and bridge conditions. The plan also identifies significant constraints on Connecticut's freight rail network. Currently, much of that network cannot accommodate standard 286,000-pound rail cars, even as the industry moves toward heavier 315,000-pound cars. Clearance restrictions also rule out double-stacked container cars, and growing passenger service on the Hartford Line has narrowed the windows available for freight trains. The plan recommends upgrading “all feasible rail lines” to the heavier standards but does not attach a cost. The DOT has secured $20 million through its Rail Freight Infrastructure Program, including funding for added siding capacity on the Housatonic Railroad. Bradley International Airport, Connecticut's only cargo airport, is expected to see air freight volumes increase 85% by 2050. The Connecticut Airport Authority is planning a cargo expansion capable of accommodating wide-body freighter aircraft. Public comments will be accepted through Sept. 4 before DOT submits the final plan for federal approval.