WASHINGTON (AP) — The House and Senate are moving toward passage of three-month patch to keep federal highway and transit aid flowing to states while lawmakers seek the right mix of policy and revenue to achieve a long-term transportation deal.
The House is expected to take up the short-term, $8 billion bill on Wednesday before leaving town for Congress' August recess. The Senate plans to take up the House bill later in the week, but before a midnight Friday deadline when authority for the Department of Transportation to process aid payments to states will expire.
Lawmakers said they were loath to take up yet another short-term transportation funding extension — this will be the 34th extension since 2009. But Republicans and Democrats don't want to see transportation aid cut off, and they are eager to pass an amendment attached to the extension bill that fills a $3.4 billion hole in the Department of Veterans Affairs' budget. The money gap threatens to force the closure of hospitals and clinics nationwide.
Before taking up the short-term extension, Senate GOP leaders say they are determined to first pass their own sweeping, six-year transportation bill. The $350 billion bill would make changes to highway, transit, railroad and auto safety programs, but only provides enough funds for the first three years.
The bill also renews the Export-Import Bank, which makes low-interest loans to help U.S. companies sell their products overseas. The bank's charter expired on June 30 in the face of opposition from conservatives, who call it corporate welfare.
Senate GOP leaders have been struggling to complete work on their long-term transportation bill before the August recess in the hope that the House would pass it and send it to the White House. But their Republican counterparts in the House have made it clear they won't be hurried into accepting the Senate measure. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
The funding was the first round of Gov. Dannel P, Malloy’s $100 billion vision for the state's transportation future intended to replace aging infrastructure, clogged highways and improve public transportation in gridlocked Connecticut.
Among the approved funding that will, in the least, get these projects started on paper are:
$10 million toward the design and engineering for widening I-84 in Danbury between Exits 3 and 8. The widening of the highway in both directions and will ease rush-hour traffic along that heavily congested section of the highway. The project is much smaller in scope than an orginal plan to widen I-84 from the New York border to Waterbury- a distance of more than 30 miles. Last year, state officials abandoned that plan citing the $4 billion-plus cost of the project and the limited availability of money for infrastructure improvements.
This spring, work began on another I-84 project that will help unsnarl another bottleneck in Danbury: the reconstruction of the interchanges at Exits 5 and 6 and widen a stretch of Route 37, south of the highway and Padanaram Road north of it. The $15 million project is scheduled to be completed in summer 2017.
And the downside to all this I-84 work? Years of traffic delays from the work that’s intended to relive bottlenecks.
$1 million toward the design and engineering of the “eventual replacement” of “The Mixmaster” at the I-84 and Route 8 interchange in Waterbury. One of the more complex and confusing designs in western Connecticut, the Mixmaster is decades past its intended life. Just past the Mixmaster from downtown Waterbury, the four-lane highway is being widened for about 3 miles. Blasting of rock ledges, replacement of eight bridges and excavation by heavy equipment has made this area resemble a war zone. And that will continue for years. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Funding OK'd for first phase of highway plan. including I-91, 691 and route 15 interchange
The State Bond Commission approved spending $1 million Tuesday to study and engineer solutions to a confounding triangle merging Interstates 691 and 91 and Route 15 in Meriden, known to cause bottlenecks and accidents.
The $1 million recommendation for Meriden was part of a $24 million first-batch round of funding for Let’s Go CT, a transportation infrastructure improvement initiative introduced by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and approved by the legislature this past session.
Other highway projects approved Tuesday include: $10 million for design and engineering to widen a portion of Interstate 84 in Danbury; $1 million to study the I-84 and Route 8 “mixmaster” interchange in Waterbury; $900,000 to study and move forward on improving bus transit; $4 million to design, engineer and build a new dockyard on the Danbury rail line; $7 million to install GPS tracking devices on public transit buses for use with mobile devices; and $500,000 to study centralized transit service coordination statewide.
The Meriden project is estimated to cost $88 million and was chosen because of “very high traffic volume at a very complex interchange,” Department of Transportation spokesman Judd Everhart said last winter.
Plans call for work to the northbound and southbound sides of I-91 between exits 15 and 20, (Country Club Road to Wallingford) and an additional lane in each direction to allow for better traffic flow for vehicles getting on and off Route 15.
“It’s a major step forward in that area,” said state Rep. Emil “Buddy” Altobello, D-Meriden. “It certainly is a confusing area when coming up from the south. There is a lot going on. We’re happy to see Malloy and Commissioner (James) Redeker put it in the first part of Let’s Go CT.”
Altobello said commuters have told him there is a regular bottleneck in the area from 7 to 8 a.m. heading north through Meriden.
“It’ll be much safer and much less confusing,” Altobello said. “It will definitely help our businesses along these routes and on the parkway, East Main Street and even downtown, and help commuters.”
The $88 million project was among $5 billion in highway work between New Haven and Springfield selected in February. At the time, City Manager Lawrence J. Kendzior said the area was historically tricky. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
GRISWOLD – Starting in September, Glasgo Pond will go from a popular swimming area to somewhat of a mud hole. The state Bond Commission this week approved $5.8 million to repair the Glasgo Pond Dam after the project was delayed in December.The money will be used to improve the spillway, construct a higher capacity outlet structure to eliminate public safety risks and repair the access road leading up to the pond for recreational use.All this will require the state to drawn down the water in the pond.Jennifer Perry, supervising environmental analyst inland water resources division with the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, said the scale of the project is significant and will take 10 to 12 months to complete. In October 2014, the DEEP conducted a 5-foot drawdown of the pond to evaluate the condition of the 146-year-old dam, which caused many private wells around the pond to go dry.Randy Bronson who lives on Shore Drive in a waterfront property said his shallow-dug well was dry for weeks.“My wife and I lived six weeks without water and we ended up using bottled water,” he said. “Eventually another neighbor with a well system let us connect to theirs so we could get water.”The residents were only given a two week notice from DEEP before the drawdown, which they said didn’t give them enough time to find a backup water source. Many of the houses around the pond have shallow-dug wells.Selectman Steven Mikutel was state representative for the area at the time of the initial draw down.“DEEP did not have any plans in place to help the residents affected by the drawdown,” Mikutel said. “They had to deal with it on their own and that’s where I had the issue. We couldn’t even get them to provide water.” CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
HARTFORD — Gov. Dannel P. Malloy says replacing the stacks of highway bridges that comprise the Mixmaster interchange in Waterbury will cost $10 billion, based on the latest estimate.
The State Bond Commission on Tuesday approved $1 million for a design and engineering study for reconfiguring the geometry of the Route 8 and Interstate 84 interchange, notorious for its cumbersome left-lane entrance and exit ramps.
The state Department of Transportation has determined that the deteriorating conditions of the highway stacks rule out its complete rehabilitation.
"The Mixmaster is going to have to be replaced," Malloy said after chairing the bond commission meeting.
The $1 million preliminary study is part of the first round of projects to be funded through as part of Malloy's five-year "Let's Go CT!" initiative, the ramp-up to the governor's 30-year, $100 billion plan for overhauling the state's aging and ailing transportation system.
In all, the bond commission approved $24.9 million for three highway projects and six public transit initiatives. Lawmakers from Waterbury applauded the funding for the Mixmaster reconstruction.
"The Mixmaster is crumbling, thus a thorough analysis of the structure is desperately needed," said Rep. Selim G. Noujaim, R-74th District.
Malloy said the bond commission will be approving funding for more Let's Go projects in the coming months. There is $2.8 billion authorized for the first five years of the governor's 30-year plan.
The governor's office had estimated the cost of replacing the Mixmaster interchange would be slightly more than $7 billion when Malloy rolled out his long-term transportation plan.
Malloy said Tuesday the latest estimate is that the project could cost upward of $10 billion.
"It is a long-term project, but we have to begin the work," he said. DOT Commissioner James P. Redeker said the Mixmaster is one of the most complicated highway interchanges in the state.
While the DOT develops a plan for replacing the Mixmaster, the department is going to shore up the highway stacks in the interim.
The rehabilitation of the structure includes replacing decks, upgrading parapets and repairing steel superstructures, concrete piers and abutments. The DOT expects this work to start in 2017.
Malloy did not have a timetable for when the final plan for replacing the Mixmaster would be ready, when work would commence and when the project would be completed. "We can't give you specific answers about the Mixmaster," he said.
Meanwhile, a 2.7-mile section of I-84 between Washington Street and Pierpont Road is being widened to three lanes in each direction. The project began in April, and it is expected to be finished in 2019 or 2020. As the Let's Go projects are rolled out over the next five years, Malloy and Redeker said, the DOT will work to minimize traffic congestion and disruptions through construction scheduling and other management efforts.
The State Bond Commission on Tuesday approved $1 million for a design and engineering study for reconfiguring the geometry of the Route 8 and Interstate 84 interchange, notorious for its cumbersome left-lane entrance and exit ramps.
The state Department of Transportation has determined that the deteriorating conditions of the highway stacks rule out its complete rehabilitation.
"The Mixmaster is going to have to be replaced," Malloy said after chairing the bond commission meeting.
The $1 million preliminary study is part of the first round of projects to be funded through as part of Malloy's five-year "Let's Go CT!" initiative, the ramp-up to the governor's 30-year, $100 billion plan for overhauling the state's aging and ailing transportation system.
In all, the bond commission approved $24.9 million for three highway projects and six public transit initiatives. Lawmakers from Waterbury applauded the funding for the Mixmaster reconstruction.
"The Mixmaster is crumbling, thus a thorough analysis of the structure is desperately needed," said Rep. Selim G. Noujaim, R-74th District.
Malloy said the bond commission will be approving funding for more Let's Go projects in the coming months. There is $2.8 billion authorized for the first five years of the governor's 30-year plan.
The governor's office had estimated the cost of replacing the Mixmaster interchange would be slightly more than $7 billion when Malloy rolled out his long-term transportation plan.
Malloy said Tuesday the latest estimate is that the project could cost upward of $10 billion.
"It is a long-term project, but we have to begin the work," he said. DOT Commissioner James P. Redeker said the Mixmaster is one of the most complicated highway interchanges in the state.
While the DOT develops a plan for replacing the Mixmaster, the department is going to shore up the highway stacks in the interim.
The rehabilitation of the structure includes replacing decks, upgrading parapets and repairing steel superstructures, concrete piers and abutments. The DOT expects this work to start in 2017.
Malloy did not have a timetable for when the final plan for replacing the Mixmaster would be ready, when work would commence and when the project would be completed. "We can't give you specific answers about the Mixmaster," he said.
Meanwhile, a 2.7-mile section of I-84 between Washington Street and Pierpont Road is being widened to three lanes in each direction. The project began in April, and it is expected to be finished in 2019 or 2020. As the Let's Go projects are rolled out over the next five years, Malloy and Redeker said, the DOT will work to minimize traffic congestion and disruptions through construction scheduling and other management efforts.