WESTPORT, CT—In front of the backdrop of the structurally deficient Saugatuck Bridge in Westport today, Congressmen Jim Himes (CT-4) and Chris Murphy (CT-5) discussed the need for long-term federal transportation funding. Many of Connecticut’s bridges are in dire need of repair: of the state’s 5,250 bridges, 1,779 are either structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. It has been more than two years since America's transportation funding expired, and the most recent six-month extension expires on March 31. Congress has extended the law with short-term patches eight different times. The officials were joined by Don Schubert, President of the Connecticut Construction Industries Association; David Kooris, Vice President and Connecticut Director, Regional Plan Association; Pete Carroll, President of the Fairfield County Building Trades; and Joe Carbone, President and CEO of The WorkPlace.
“With bridges crumbling and highways choked with congestion, we need the certainty and safety that long-term transportation funding will provide, but the transportation legislation up for consideration in Congress right now will only exacerbate the problem,” Himes said. “We need a forward-thinking transportation bill that will put people back to work improving our mass transit systems and rebuilding our roads, bridges, and airports.”
The only transportation legislation on which the Majority is expected to hold a vote (H.R. 7) cuts transportation in 45 states, including Connecticut. This bill reduces funding for clean transportation options, circumvents important environmental laws, and misguidedly links transportation funding to expanded oil drilling.
“Our federal highway programs are in the red because of gridlock in Washington,” Murphy said. “Our roads and bridges need critical improvements and repairs, and a full third of construction and road workers are out of work. This should be a no-brainer for Congress—we can create jobs now by making smart investments in our transportation infrastructure.”
The economic case for transportation investment is clear. In the long term, transportation improvements lead to economic development locally and regionally and ultimately facilitate the economic growth of the entire country. In the near term, each dollar invested in highway construction generates $1.80 of GDP. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, each $1 billion in federal highway investment plus the state match supports 34,000 jobs, and every dollar that taxpayers invest in public transportation generates about $6 in economic returns.
“Representatives Himes and Murphy have been strong advocates for transportation infrastructure investment in Congress,” Schubert said. “This attention is critical to the economic success of Southwest Connecticut.”
The impact of a deteriorating, overburdened transportation system is enormous. The condition of the nation's transportation system is a threat to safety, quality of life, economic growth, and the environment. If highway capacity does not grow faster than it has in the past 25 years, Americans can expect to spend 160 hours each year in congestion by 2035. Approximately 34,000 people are killed annually on U.S. highways, with 15,000 of those traffic fatalities in crashes where substandard road conditions, obsolete designs, or roadside hazards were a factor. Traffic congestion costs American motorists $115 billion a year in wasted time and fuel costs and causes them to lose 4.8 billion hours a year stuck in traffic.
“House leadership has pushed a bill that would make it harder for people to get to work, undermine the public transportation system that is so critical to the state’s economy, and threaten important safety programs,” said Steven Higashide of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign. “Connecticut needs a 21st-century bill that supports smart growth and a balanced transportation network. This isn’t it.”