Can CTs transportation systems handle hiring surge at submarine manufacturer Electric Boat
Can CT's transportation systems handle hiring surge at submarine manufacturer Electric Boat?
MSN.com
By: Paul Schott
April 2, 2026
General Dynamics Electric Boat is pursuing one of the largest-ever recruitment initiatives in New England, with its goal of hiring 8,000 people this year across its facilities in Connecticut and Rhode Island. Now comes the challenge of putting the submarine manufacturer's far-reaching plan into action.
One of the biggest questions for Electric Boat executives and public officials is how southeastern Connecticut's transportation infrastructure will accommodate the company's growth. Roads, trains and boats could all figure in efforts to make it easier to commute to the company's shipyard in Groton and offices in New London.
"We'll support anything that gets people to the shipyard," Electric Boat President Mark Rayha said at a legislative briefing held by the company on March 23 in Groton.
Most of Electric Boat's approximately 24,000 employees, including about 16,000 in Connecticut, drive to work. Handling thousands of vehicles each day is a challenge, according to some local officials.
"Parking, it is definitely the biggest concern that I hear in my office when it comes to Electric Boat," Groton Mayor Jill Rusk told Rayha, during a Q&A session at the legislative briefing. "Our neighbors need a little bit of relief, so anything you can do to help with that would be great."
In response to an inquiry from CT Insider, Electric Boat officials declined to comment on the company's number of on-site parking spaces in Groton or whether it planned to build any additional parking lots in Groton.
One Electric Boat property that does not lack parking is Crystal Mall in Waterford, which the company acquired last year. The site has 3,850 parking spots, according to the Parkopedia website.
This week marked the end of operations for nearly all of the remaining businesses at the mall, which has seen a tenant exodus in recent years. Electric Boat plans to convert the site into a hub for several thousand employees, with offices, laboratories and training space. The company expects to move in to the facility in mid-2027 at the earliest.
"The mall became an empty place, but it's fantastic infrastructure," Rayha said at the legislative briefing. "It's got a lot of parking, which is always a premium for a shipbuilder."
Meanwhile, improvements are underway on a prominent piece of infrastructure that features in the commutes of many Electric Boat employees: the 6,000-foot-long Gold Star Memorial Bridge, which carries Interstate 95 across the Thames River, between Groton and New London. The rehabilitation of the bridge's northbound structure is expected to be completed in 2030, according to state Department of Transportation (DOT) officials. After that project, the sidewalk of the bridge's southbound structure will be widened to create a "shared use pathway," DOT officials said.
At the same time, a number of legislators want to boost Shore Line East, which runs between New Haven and New London. A bill that calls on DOT to make the rail line's service "comparable" to levels before the COVID-19 pandemic advanced last month with near-unanimous approval from the General Assembly's Transportation Committee.
Other advocates of expanded Shore Line East service include state Rep. Dave Gaiewski, whose district includes the shipyard in Groton.
"The benefit to all the companies and the region as a whole is it allows you to recruit from farther away, taking a strain off local roads, parking and reducing the stress of trying to find housing in the area, where the market is already tight," Gaiewski, a first-term Democrat, said in a written statement.
An Electric boat spokesperson said that the company hopes to soon have one of its shuttles that connect its facilities with auxiliary parking lots make a stop at the New London train station.
The launch of water taxis on the Thames River is another option that interests Electric Boat executives and public officials. Electric Boat's shipyard is on Eastern Point Road, a thoroughfare that runs alongside the river.
"I'm going to reiterate again my push for a water taxi to bring people back and forth during the bridge construction," Rusk said at the legislative briefing, apparently referring to the work on the Gold Star bridge.
Rayha responded that, "If you ever have a water taxi, you can name it after me, because I've always thought that would be a great way to move people across that river."
It was not immediately clear how plans for water taxis on the Thames River would move forward. A DOT spokesperson said that the department was unaware of such plans. Electric Boat officials declined to comment this week on whether the company might fund or operate any water taxis.
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