Paul Bass Photo
Dan Malloy took a long drive to a short pier in New Haven to offer a waterfront vision for creating new jobs and getting trucks off the road.
Malloy, the Democratic candidate for governor, and running mate Nancy Wyman visited the fishing pier off New Haven’s Tomlinson Bridge to unveil a $50 million plan to create a new state port authority and dredge New London, New Haven, and Bridgeport harbors, home to three of the country’s 105 busiest deep-water ports.
Close to eight million tons of goods a year already pass through New Haven’s port, the largest of the three, according to New Haven Mayor John DeStefano, who accompanied Malloy at the press event.
All three ports can do “substantially more” business with physical improvements as well as a statewide authority marketing to importers and seeking federal dough, Malloy said.
His plan would rely on already approved state bonds and Urban Act and Manufacturing Assistance Act money to carry out the work as well as unpaid gubernatorial appointees and existing government officials to run the authority.
And he’d rely on local port authorities to guide the state authority’s efforts, Malloy said.
He was asked if that meant he would commit to funding one of New Haven’s priorities, completing a rail link from New Haven’s port to the train station. That would help shippers put goods right on trains without relying on trucks or other ground transportation.
“I’m going to work with local communities,” Malloy responded.
Malloy cited a Connecticut Maritime Coalition report to state that investing in port development brings back $9 to $12 on the dollar in new economic activity; the report estimated that an $80 million investment could create 6,100 jobs.
Bridgeport harbor was last dredged in 1964, New Haven in 2004.
Click here to read Malloy’s plan.
Click here to read about New Haven’s efforts to develop the port and seek federal money to help.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Foley Tuesday afternoon blasted Malloy’s proposal as “more government and more spending.”
“Government doesn’t create jobs. Businesses do,” Foley said.
He called it “tricky accounting” for Malloy to claim that using $50 million in previously approved dollars has no “fiscal impact.”
During Malloy’s press conference, regulars continued fishing at the other end of the pier without taking much notice. Joshua Deitsch, a 24-year-old roofer, wasn’t having much luck with his rod (despite catching a 16-pound bluefish the other day). But he did snag a handshake from Malloy before the press conference. “I thought I recognized him,” Deitsch said.
Malloy also schmoozed before the press event with operating engineers working on the I‑95 construction project.
Malloy hit all three harbors to unveil the plan Tuesday. Before moving on to New London, he made a quick call to Pepe’s Pizza to pick up a pie for the road.
Reinvesting in Maritime trade and heavy rail transport will be key to reducing asthma rates in children, vehicle related deaths along roadways, traffic congestion, costs of maintaining, extending, repairing, rebuilding, and widening roadways, and it will be key to reducing the perception of unsafe, unpleasant and unwalkable neighborhoods that now exist since the large cargo transporters have to use public roads next to pedestrians, cyclists and small cars(as opposed to the segregated, private, infrequent and often grade-separated rail roads).
For the last 30 years cities have been increasingly reliant on medical related, insurance company and financial institution growth for urban economic development, which has only increased poverty in inner cities as job opportunities expand only for the highly skilled, highly educated and highly mobile populations. Reinvestment in rail and maritime trade, however, represents a potential turning point for cities. Unlike highway funds, new construction subsidies, and retail incentives, rail and ports are things that suburbs cannot compete with because they don't have the historic infrastructure already in place nor the strategic geographic locations that cities do. Whereas economic development-enabled by incentives, subsidies, policies, codes and laws-for the last 6 decades has been overwhelmingly preferred in suburban locations and with suburban design standards, this type of proposal, and hopefully more like it, implies a long deserved leveling of the playing field for cities to attract development that is to an urban scale and urban design standard. Little maritime and canal towns like New Haven were initially able to grow into cities because of heavy rail that facilitated industrial growth. Our neighborhoods were developed along light rail trolley lines, which allowed development in areas that were previously not viable for development, usually places not near heavy rail lines and the water.
Rail is to a city what agricultural is a to a village, you cannot have one without the other, if you do its not a city or village, its something else, and in the case of New Haven its something that is not functioning properly.