DeLauro Delivers Bridge Recovery Funds

by Marcia Chambers | February 28, 2009 7:50 PM | | Comments (14)

DSC00658.JPGU.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (pictured) said Saturday that the $75 million allocated for major reconstruction of the Amtrak Bridge and the expansion of Route 1, is precisely what “Congress had in mind when we made infrastructure the guts and the heart and soul of this economic recovery package.”

Surrounded by state and local officials, DeLauro said Connecticut would receive $302 million specifically for bridge work around the state. (The state will receive a total of $487.5 million for infrastructure funding.) She did not disclose the other projects, but said they would become known in upcoming weeks.

She said the Amtrak bridge project had been expedited, that bidding would take 30 days, not 90 days. “This project is about as shovel ready as any project can be. We are there,” she declared.

The Amtrak bridge project has been in the works for at least 15 years, spanning both Democratic and Republican administrations.

DeLauro told the group she experienced firsthand the town’s daily congestion nightmare as she navigated “the Pretzel,” the intersection of the Amtrak bridge, Route 1, Main Street, the connector onto Exit 53 off I-95 and the road to Wal-Mart.

“I got caught in this traffic coming around here,” she said at a press conference held at a commuter lot within view of the bridge.

“The project begins right here, at the bottom of Branford Hill on Route 1, below the train track, but its impact is far and wide,” she said under chilly skies. “This project will affect one of the most heavily traveled roads running down the East coast and the busiest traffic rail line in the nation… It opens up a bottleneck that often stretches well beyond the intersection, which creates serious problems for local businesses. The community has called for a critical clear gridlock free emergency and evacuation route. Public safety and public health demand that we do this.

“This is essential not just for quality of life but for economic development. Quality jobs will be created and they are jobs that cannot be outsourced. They are going to make a difference for people in this region.”

DSC00664.JPGShe described First Selectman Unk DaRos (pictured) as “a full partner and an unrelenting advocate for this critical regional project.” DaRos praised state transportation officials and the South Central Regional Council of Governments (COG), including Executive Director Judy Gott, “for making sure this stayed at the top of the priority list.”

And he personally thanked DeLauro because “she went out and battled to get the funding for this project so that we can finally get some relief in this area.”

DSC00671.JPGDemocratic State Sen. Ed Meyer (pictured below) observed that soon after he was first elected to serve the 12th district, he helped to negotiate the purchase of 20 acres nearby. “Hopefully those 20 acres will enable us to have commercial development but also to have a connector going south on I-95 that will permit access to Exit 53,” he said.

At this time only drivers going northbound have access to Exit 53. “So what we are looking at here is a combination of ending traffic congestion, development and better transportation onto I- 95. It’s a great combination,” Meyer said.

In an interview afterward, DaRos told the Eagle that his next project will be to get “a full interchange off Exit 53.” He said he would go to the state DOT and to officials who oversee the national highway system. “We will be looking for that. It is not impossible to do.” He observed that development would also be part of the expansion. “There is a couple of hundred thousand square feet already authorized for commercial development — once the bridge is fixed.”

Branford Republicans have also pressed for change at Exit 53. Former First Selectman John Opie envisioned an economic rebirth in the area if the I-95 interchange could become two-way.

Both Opie and former Republican Majority and Minority RTM leader Kurt Schwanfelder pressed the Democrats to stay on top of the Amtrak bridge reconstruction. The development is contingent on the bridge reconstruction.

DSC00675.JPG Rep. Lonnie Reed (D-102, pictured) described the efforts on the federal, state and local levels as a “great team effort” and praised DOT Commissioner Joseph Marie. “He did say that this was at the top of his shovel ready list if Rosa could help deliver this money. Well, sure enough, here it is.”
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Comments

Posted by: Wayne Cooke | March 1, 2009 8:53 AM

Congratulations to the administration and all those other savvy politicians now taking a bow. It's amazing what can be accomplished when the government borrows another trillion dollars from China and starts giving it away.

Posted by: Pat Santoro | March 1, 2009 10:08 AM

Did you know that China has been granted eminent domain rights in the United States to secure the money owed to them by the United States government?

Posted by: Jay | March 1, 2009 12:14 PM

This bridge is at the confluence of a federal highway (Rte. 1), a state highway (Rte. 142), a national rail line (Amtrak), and an interstate highway interchange (I-95 - exit 53). The abutments are crumbling, the roadway is dilapidated and dangerous, and the resulting traffic problems are legendary. The project to fix this infrastructure problem has been ready to go for roughly 10 years, and all that was really lacking was resolve (funding). If this is NOT a perfect example of what the federal stimulus package money should be spent on, then I do not know what is!

Posted by: DingDong | March 1, 2009 3:49 PM

Glad to see the suburbanites excited about increasing sprawl. Soon they'll be an office park there and 500 more jobs will be moved out of New Haven.

Posted by: Wayne Cooke | March 1, 2009 4:51 PM

(And, yes...that was meant to be at least slightly sarcastic...)

Posted by: Walt | March 2, 2009 6:33 AM

Getting the bridge done is a plus, but not really right as a stimulous.

Primarily a sop to the construction unions and will be part of overburdoning construction work for years to come,

Anyone want to bet

Need stimulous more in other areas

Posted by: anon | March 2, 2009 12:00 PM

Federal transportation money should be directed into urban centers, not energy-intensive, suburban wastelands. I think Obama understands this, why doesn't DeLauro?

Given the economic realities, all current and future growth is going to take place in dense, walkable, transit-rich areas. If Branford wants to revive itself from certain decline, it should build a spur rail line from its train station into the center of town, or revive the trolley line that used to operate there.

Over the course of the next 20 years, car-dependent suburbs like Branford are going to decline into massive scrapyards for raw materials. This "bridge" project (which is mainly designed to make it easier for Humvees to negotiate Branford without having to slow down to below 40 MPH, not for people who actually live in the area) will be seen as an epic mistake.

Posted by: Glenn | March 2, 2009 1:10 PM

The money for fixing the Amtrak bridge was being raised anyway. It was going to happen anyway, without "help" from our international masters. Where's the stimulus in this? I don't know. But I do know this is not a time for our useless, worn-out politician to display their feathers, as though they've fought a war to get us a new bridge. On the contrary, it fell into place and DeLauro, Meyer, and DaRos were there to get their pictures taken. Bra-vo.

Posted by: j.pottenger | March 2, 2009 1:24 PM

I suppose I am just an optimist, but it seems to me that the rebuilt rail bridge may prove to be the key which unlocked the Exit 53 traffic trap.

Not all the new jobs and transport projects can (or should) be concentrated in the cities, and the "close-in suburbs" indeed will require this kind of transport support if they are to avoid the dire fate predicted by our Anonymous contributor. Construction jobs probably are among those most needed now, with the slump in housing and commercial real estate and the severe
fiscal constraints even Yale is now confronting as it dramatically slows its building programs.

As to our Chinese friends, I travel there fairly often on business, and they seem to be OK with lending us back -- even at today's nearly zero "official" (and probably actually negative) interest rates -- the massive amount of dollars we are sending over there. And I wouldn't worry too much about eminent domain in the post-Kelo world we now inhabit.

So I do say "kudos" to the local, state, and federal folks who have made this happen.

Posted by: L Collins | March 2, 2009 2:17 PM

Congratulations to all who have worked to bring this about. Much needed by residents, businesses and potential workforce. Nice job Unk, Ed, Rosa and Lonnie. Thank you.

Posted by: anon | March 2, 2009 2:59 PM

J. Pottenger: how do you propose to sustain the levels of energy consumption represented by places like Branford? This part of town is a typical single-family suburban development built along massive highways, where 95%+ of the population must drive everywhere.

Do you realize the amount of energy consumed by a place like Branford, when compared to a place like Chicago, New York or Shanghai?

Do Branford residents produce 50X the economic output of someone working 15 hours per day at a bank in Hong Kong? If not, there is a serious readjustment coming. It's called the end of the suburbs.

Luckily, it shouldn't be too much of a change considering that things have only been the way they are for a few decades, relative to the hundreds of thousands of years of human history when people did not feel entitled to drive a 3,000 pound vehicle at 40MPH under a massive new road bridge just to buy a cup of coffee.

Bridges like this one do absolutely nothing to address our dependency on foreign oil, and within 5-10 years will be viewed as a stake driven through our collective heart. All we'll be left with is the tens of millions of dollars in debt.

Obama needs to step in and call us all out on this colossal waste of taxpayer funds. Rosa should be ashamed.

Posted by: Glenn | March 2, 2009 3:41 PM

Agreed, Anon! This project being "shovel-ready," I doubt the government contractors have any intention of hiring out-of-work roofers and other manual laborers. They already have their manpower.

Meanwhile, consider that poor infrastructure, such as The Bridge, leads to traffic nightmares, but it also modifies behavior. Specifically, mine! I won't go shopping on a Saturday morning. Its crazy over there! I will go shopping on a weekday evening, when there's less traffic, less hassle.

Perhaps those who suffer at The Bridge modify their lifestyles so their agony can end [b]without [/b]billing the rest of us for millions and millions.

Posted by: anon | March 2, 2009 10:18 PM

Agreed, Glenn. How many child deaths could that $75 million prevent? 25,000 kids die every day from preventable causes worldwide.

The U.S. could probably have done more for the national economy by spending $75M on malaria treatment, and improving the capacity of other countries to buy our goods and services.

$75M so more Branford residents can get a sandwich from Arby's without having to wait 2 minutes in a "traffic jam" (the longest I have ever waited at this bridge) is not a good use of money.

Posted by: MARY | March 14, 2009 5:03 PM

I hope that the design for the new bridge will make that stretch of the road pedestrian and cycler friendly. Right now its a hazardous area for non-vehicular traffic

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