Press Releases
11/07/2019
Governor Lamont Presents CT2030: A Realistic, Fiscally Responsible Plan to Transform Connecticut’s Transportation System
Examine the Details at CT2030.com
(HARTFORD, CT) – With six of the worst traffic bottlenecks in the country and 65 percent of its highways more than three decades old with 12 percent of its bridges rated in poor condition, virtually anyone who regularly uses Connecticut’s transportation system agrees that the state desperately needs to make targeted improvements that reduce congestion and make travel quicker, safer, convenient, and reliable. But with the way the state currently funds transportation projects, which mainly involves in-state residents paying virtually all of the costs, the funding to not only make these improvements but keep the existing system in a state of good repair is simply not there.
Working with transportation experts, federal officials, Democratic and Republican lawmakers, and neighboring states, Governor Ned Lamont has developed a detailed, fiscally responsible plan that specifically targets the state’s worst transportation problems while financing them in a way that delivers the highest possible return on investment at the lowest possible cost to Connecticut residents.
CT2030 is Governor Lamont’s ten-year vision to create a multi-modal, congestion-reduced Connecticut through smart enhancement projects in the state’s highways, trains, buses, airports, and ports.
The plan invests $14 billion in the state’s roads and bridges and $7 billion in its public transit system by focusing on projects that prioritizes and pays for the most vital improvements for Connecticut residents, while doing so in a realistic way. Projects fall into two categories: system preservation and maintenance, and enhancement projects that can be achieved over the next decade.
CT2030: The Projects
Rail and Buses
CT2030 invests $6.2 billion across all of the state’s rail lines. That investment transforms the commuter experience – beginning on day one. Over the course of the ten-year program, new state-of-the-art rail cars and locomotives will be added, express service to New York Penn Station will be introduced, and partnerships with telecommunications companies will bring reliable, high-speed data service to trains. Most importantly, riders will be given back time – through improved commuting times, more frequent reliable service, and more efficient options.
On the New Haven Line, roundtrip commuters will save at least twenty minutes per day between New Haven and the New York border by 2023, with even more time savings by 2030. If all projects are funded and completed, trip times from New Haven to Grand Central will be reduced to one hour and twenty minutes, allowing commuters to get to work and arrive home much faster.
Connecticut’s buses carry as many passengers each year as its railways. CT2030 invests in better signage and real-time bus information, and upgrades the most popular routes with additional shelters and service displays.
For a detailed list of rail and bus improvements in CT2030, click here.
Roads and Bridges
Over the last several years, Connecticut made targeted improvements to the 2.7 mile-stretch of I-84 in Waterbury that included its realignment and widening. The results were an undisputed success. Once completed, average rush-hour speed in the heavily congested area increased by more than 45 miles per hour, travel times in the area reduced from 30 minutes to four minutes, and monthly traffic crashes have declined from 38 to three.
CT2030 makes similar targeted enhancements across Connecticut’s most traveled highways, including I-95, I-91, I-84, Routes 9 and 15, and other roads around the state. Those enhancements, once completed, will drastically reduce congestion, eliminating the daily uncertainty of driving and improving safety. In addition to those game-changing enhancements, maintaining a state of good repair of all of Connecticut’s’ state roads and highways remains a top priority in the plan, as it will secure the state’s federal grants for infrastructure.
For a detailed list of road and bridge improvements in CT2030, click here.
Airports
CT2030 recognizes that airports are an important part of any region’s transportation system as they are major drivers of a solid economic engine that attracts business.
In the plan, commuters to Bradley International Airport – the second largest airport in New England – will have the option of accessing the airport by traveling on an autonomous tram that will connect them to Bradley directly from the Hartford Line at the Windsor Locks Station.
Perhaps the most transformative enhancement of CT2030 is a fully functioning regional airport in southern Connecticut. Together with the Federal Aviation Administration, the state will embark on an objective selection process to transform either Tweed New Haven Airport or Sikorsky Memorial Airport into a regional airport offering about 30 daily flights to major economic hubs across the country. Similar to the intermodal design for Bradley, the selected airport for expanded regional flights will also be connected to public transit. An objective selection process will engage all stakeholders at all levels to determine which airport will be selected and transformed.
For a detailed list of all airport improvements in CT2030, click here.
Ports
The CT2030 plan develops Connecticut’s ports into the most innovative in the country, utilizing them as important production centers contributing to Connecticut’s economic output as they facilitate the movement of freight around the state. With strategic locations like New London, Bridgeport, and New Haven that provide deepwater for larger ships, and a terminal like Stamford that will expand the state’s transit options, Connecticut’s ports are critical to a forward-thinking infrastructure future.
For a detailed list of all port improvements in CT2030, click here.
CT2030: Responsible Financing
In developing the financing mechanisms for CT2030, Governor Lamont sought to reduce the costs as much as possible for Connecticut residents. The plan calls for leveraging new funding and federal financing sources, as well as creating more efficiencies within the Connecticut Department of Transportation. By bringing in out-of-state funding and pursuing smart federal financing opportunities, the plan dramatically reduces the cost of the projects to Connecticut taxpayers.
For details on how the plan is financed, click here.
CT2030: The Urgency
Governor Lamont explained that this plan is needed to keep the state’s Special Transportation Fund, which is anticipated to go under water over the next decade, in a state of solvency while ensuring that existing infrastructure remains in a state of good repair and targeted enhancements can be achieved that make travel more convenient.
“For generations, the state has neglected critical investments in our infrastructure, hampering economic growth and leaving residents in endless hours of traffic wondering why state officials didn’t fix these problems years ago,” Governor Lamont said. “For the future of our state, we can no longer kick the can down the road on these improvements—we must fix this long overdue problem and move our state forward today.”
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