Approximately $12 billion in short and long-term “have-to-do” highway, bridge and public transit projects in Connecticut will not go forward because they lack funding, at least in the foreseeable future, state officials said.
The state Department of Transportation has outlined in a five-year capital plan hundreds of short-term projects, most of which were originally scheduled to be completed by 2014, and two dozen long-term projects that don’t have financing sources for at least the next five years.
The DOT anticipates receiving $4.6 billion in state and federal infrastructure funding from 2010 to 2014, but nearly 30 percent of that money will be absorbed by five “mega” projects in New Haven and Stratford. That will severely limit funding for many other much needed preservations, upgrades and expansions, state officials said.
The huge backlog raises deep concerns about Connecticut’s aging infrastructure and the state’s ability to repair it. At stake, officials said, is the future of economic development in the state — Connecticut’s ability to attract and retain new businesses.
“The demands for infrastructure improvement are outstripping the resources that are available,” said Kevin Nursick, a spokesman for the DOT. “There will simply not be enough money to address all the ‘have-to-do’ projects in the state. Certain projects that may have been discussed for awhile will not be on the immediate horizon.”
Nursick said DOT has prioritized funding for the next five years to ensure that the most pressing needs are dealt with first. The main focus will be to maintain and repair existing infrastructure, Nursick said.
The unfunded short-term projects, which range in price from $69,000 to $330 million, include the expansion of lanes on I-84 in West Hartford and Waterbury. Both upgrades are designed to ease traffic congestion.
The unfunded long-term projects have price tags in the hundreds of millions of dollars range and include the replacement or rehab of the Aetna Viaduct in Hartford and the Putnam Bridge in Glastonbury.
Building the New Haven — Hartford — Springfield high-speed rail line, which has a $900 million price tag, is also a long-term unfunded project.
None of these projects had funding when they were originally proposed, but money has been spent on them in the planning process, Nursick said.
Projects that will go forward include the New Britain-Hartford Busway and the relocation of the Route 72 Expressway in Bristol.
Nearly $1.3 billion will be spent on five projects including the replacement of the Moses Wheeler Bridge in Stratford ($365 million) and the I-95 New Haven Harbor Crossing Corridor Improvement Program, which features four separate public transit enhancement and roadway improvements along 7.2 miles of I-95, between Exit 46 in New Haven and Exit 54 in Branford. The price tag on that project, which includes replacing the existing I-95 crossing over New Haven Harbor, is about $1 billion.
More than half of transportation expenses in Connecticut are federally funded. From 2010 to 2014, DOT expects to receive $2.9 billion in federal funds for its capital program, and another $1.7 billion from the state.
The five-year capital plan does not include any stimulus funds.
On the state level, DOT pays for infrastructure repairs through the Special Transportation Fund, which was created in the wake of the disastrous Mianus River bridge collapse in 1983. Its key revenue sources include the gasoline tax, motor vehicle receipts, and licenses, permits and fees. In fiscal year 2009, those revenue sources brought in $495 million, $220 million and $142 million respectively, according to the Office of Policy and Management.
Lyle Wray, executive director of the Capitol Region Council of Governments, said the state has been underfunding infrastructure improvement for decades, causing traffic congestion to increase and the state’s infrastructure to deteriorate. In some cases, pieces of infrastructure remain in service beyond their usable lifespan. “We are going to be playing catch up for a long time,” he said.
One problem, Wray said, is that the state has been earning less from its main revenue generator — the gasoline tax. There has been a decline in fuel usage since oil prices skyrocketed a few years ago and more people are driving fuel-efficient vehicles. That revenue source also took a hit when then Gov. John Rowland cut the tax by 7 cents a gallon in 2000, Wray said.
Donald Shubert, president of the Connecticut Construction Industries Association, said one of Connecticut’s major economic assets — its proximity to Boston and New York City — could be put in jeopardy if needed infrastructure repairs and upgrades are put on hold.
State Sen. Donald DeFronzo, co-chair of the transportation committee, agrees that the state needs to invest more in its infrastructure. He said lawmakers are considering ways to add revenue, including bringing back tolls or adopting other types of user fees.
“There is no easy solution,” said DeFronzo, a Democrat from New Britain.
Nursick said DOT would never let infrastructure become unsafe but conceded the longer the state delays repairs and upgrades, the more it will cost the down the road.
Fast Facts:
- In 2007, 58 percent of Connecticut’s urban interstates and other highways or freeways were considered congested, and nearly half of major roads were in poor or mediocre condition, according to a report by the Connecticut Construction Industries Association.
- At the same time, 34 percent of bridges in Connecticut showed significant deterioration in 2008, or did not meet current design standards, the CCIA report said.
- The statewide cost of traffic congestion in lost time and wasted fuel is about $724 million annually and $415 for the average driver in the Hartford area, the report said.