Gov. Ned Lamont said Wednesday that he’s more interested in getting a bipartisan deal in the General Assembly to tackle Connecticut’s transportation-infrastructure crisis than promoting any particular tolling scheme.
Speaking with reporters at an aerospace-industry event in Hartford, Lamont indicated he was leaning toward this week’s offer from House majority Democrats to shift back to his 2018 campaign proposal of trucks-only tolls, since it would be able to extract some infrastructure funding from out-of-state traffic.
But he also acknowledged last week’s proposal from Senate minority Republicans, for an $18-billion plan without tolls.
“The senate Republicans have a credible plan out there, I’ve got to look at it,” Lamont said at the Connecticut Convention Center. “The House Democrats, they have a credible plan out there. We have a plan, which I think is very good. I want to get together with the leadership soon. My job is to get people together, My job is to bring a solution for this transportation.”
Lamont has offered a 10-year, $21-billion strategy that would include 14 toll gantries on selected state highways.
“All the different groups know that we have to increase our investment in transportation,” Lamont said. “Most of them subscribe to the priorities that we have in terms of rail and ending the gridlock. We don’t all agree on how we’re going to pay for it, but I think we’re going to find common ground.”
He said that emulating the Rhode Island model of trucks-only tolling - which is being challenged in court - would generate at least some of the revenue stream that federal officials find important in order to obtain low-income loans. “Rhode Island continues to get funding from...
from News https://www.ctpost.com/politics/article/Lamont-wants-consensus-on-transportation-14849287.php
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