WHO: Governor Lamont, Commissioner Giulietti
WHAT: Governor Lamont holds news conference to discuss transportation infrastructure
WHEN: TODAY 26, 2019; 1:00 p.m.
WHERE: Near the Gold Star Memorial Bridge
**DIRECTIONS: (no specific GPS coordinates)
From I-95 Southbound: Take Exit 84 South. Take a left on Crystal Avenue. Then a right onto State Pier Road. Stay left to stay on State Pier Road. Thames River State Boat Launch will be located on your left.
From I-95 Northbound: Take Exit 83. Turn left onto Williams Street. Then turn right onto Cole Street. Turn slight right onto State Pier Road, follow for 0.4 miles. Stay left in order to stay on State Pier Road. Thames River State Boat Launch will be located on your left.
One State Pier Rd New London
Feds call Connecticut’s statewide tolls proposal ‘new territory’
Mark Pazniokas
Waterbury — Gusty winds peppered Gov. Ned Lamont with dust and occasional snow flurries Monday as he stood beneath the “mixmaster,” the outmoded I-84 and Route 8 interchange undergoing a $152.9 million rehabilitation that will buy Connecticut time — putting off a far more expensive and disruptive replacement for another 25 years.
Looming above him like a prehistoric, if badly rusting, octopus, the mixmaster provided a telegenic backdrop for the easiest part of Lamont’s campaign to win approval of electronic highway tolls: Demonstrating how desperate is the need for the modernization of an interstate highway system conceived in the 1950s.
The harder part is answering the many questions that so far have stymied the new administration, among them: Where precisely would the overhead tolling gantries go up? What would the tolls costs local commuters? How much of a discount could the state offer locals without provoking a court challenge from the interstate trucking industry?
No state has attempted what Connecticut is now in the early stages of promoting: Devising a plan to install tolling on existing highways throughout the state, as opposed to placing tolls on a single road, bridge or tunnel.
“I think this is new territory for all of us,” said Cynthia L. Essenmacher, the tolling program manager at the Federal Highway Administration’s Center for Innovative Finance Support.
Retro-fitting an old interstate highway system with tolls is a complex undertaking, especially when most of the system was constructed with federal funds. The Lamont administration would like to install tolls on its three major interstates: 84, 91 and 95, plus the cars-only Merritt Parkway.
Based on Lamont’s comments Monday, Connecticut has considerable work to do.
His predecessor, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, arranged for the Bond Commission to approve $10 million in planning funds for a tolling system, but Lamont has yet to sign off on going ahead with the expenditure and seems disinclined to do so until the legislature signals its supports for tolls.
Lamont has presented lawmakers with two options: electronic tolling on all motor vehicles or just trucks, as he proposed during the campaign. But the first option clearly is Lamont’s choice, as his administration now concedes that trucks-only tolls would raise too little revenue to make a difference and would be vulnerable to legal challenge.
“We’re going to lay out these different options to the legislature,” Lamont said Monday. “Once we get a green light on how we want to proceed, then we’re going to put in place the study we need to tell us exactly how we roll this out and, working with the legislature, figure out what is a reasonable way to price it and what it looks like.”
There is a chicken-and-egg aspect to the tolls issue: Lamont wants legislative endorsement to spend more money, but some legislators want more details that could require further study.
CDM Smith, a consultant for the state Department of Transportation, produced an evaluation last year of various tolling options for a system far more extensive than Lamont now wants lawmakers to consider. In addition to the Merritt and interstates 84, 91 and 95, that evaluation assumed tolls on Routes, 2, 8 and 9, the state’s busiest highways, and secondary intestates like 291, 395 and 691.
But Fasano, as well as the construction industry, has criticized Lamont’s budget proposal for diverting some spending from transportation in the near-term, while holding out the promise of as much as $800 million in annual tolling revenue, beginning no earlier than 2023. Lamont was unable to say Monday what projects might be delayed due to the near-term cut.The mixmaster project began in June, funded by previously allocated bonding. With the design costs included, the project will cost about $200 million. It is scheduled to be completed in September 2022. By then, the issue of highway tolls presumably will be long resolved, and Lamont will be in the final months of a re-election campaign or watching a fight among would-be successors.
Waterbury Mayor Neil O’Leary and two local legislators, Reps. Ron Napoli and Geraldo Reyes Jr., and Don Shubert, the head of a construction trade group, joined Lamont on Monday to promote transportation spending and tolls as vital to economic growth in Connecticut. O’Leary said a recently completed widening of I-84 already has eased congestion and raised property values of the city’s east side.
“We’ve got to get this transportation system moving,” Lamont said. “We cannot get growing again until we get Connecticut moving again.”
On Tuesday, Lamont will hold a press conference at the mile-long Gold Star Memorial Bridge, which carries 106,000 vehicles every day on I-95 across the Thames River between Groton and New London. He is to be accompanied by local mayors and Shubert, the president of the Connecticut Construction Industry Association.
Shubert applauds Lamont’s call for tolls, but is opposed to elements of the governor’s proposed “debt diet” that could postpone hundreds of millions of dollars in potential borrowing for transportation to help solve larger problems in Connecticut’s finances.
The governor, a Democrat, invoked an unlikely ally, the Trump administration, in his call for tolls. Lamont said Vice President Mike Pence encouraged governors to think about transportation when he addressed the National Governors Association over the weekend.
“He brought up the fact that the number one priority of this administration is get an infrastructure bill passed, and passed in this session right now — nothing more important, Republicans and Democrats, labor and business, keep our folks working, get our states moving again,” Lamont said. “I think that is going to happen and when that happens I want to make sure Connecticut is at the front of the line.”
Mark Pazniokas
Waterbury — Gusty winds peppered Gov. Ned Lamont with dust and occasional snow flurries Monday as he stood beneath the “mixmaster,” the outmoded I-84 and Route 8 interchange undergoing a $152.9 million rehabilitation that will buy Connecticut time — putting off a far more expensive and disruptive replacement for another 25 years.
Looming above him like a prehistoric, if badly rusting, octopus, the mixmaster provided a telegenic backdrop for the easiest part of Lamont’s campaign to win approval of electronic highway tolls: Demonstrating how desperate is the need for the modernization of an interstate highway system conceived in the 1950s.
The harder part is answering the many questions that so far have stymied the new administration, among them: Where precisely would the overhead tolling gantries go up? What would the tolls costs local commuters? How much of a discount could the state offer locals without provoking a court challenge from the interstate trucking industry?
No state has attempted what Connecticut is now in the early stages of promoting: Devising a plan to install tolling on existing highways throughout the state, as opposed to placing tolls on a single road, bridge or tunnel.
“I think this is new territory for all of us,” said Cynthia L. Essenmacher, the tolling program manager at the Federal Highway Administration’s Center for Innovative Finance Support.
Retro-fitting an old interstate highway system with tolls is a complex undertaking, especially when most of the system was constructed with federal funds. The Lamont administration would like to install tolls on its three major interstates: 84, 91 and 95, plus the cars-only Merritt Parkway.
Essenmacher said in a telephone interview that Connecticut is not the only state exploring using electronic tolls to finance the reconstruction, modernization or expansion of highways on a regional scale, but none has come forward with a detailed, statewide plan for review by the federal government.
Federal law generally prohibits adding tolls to existing interstate highways, but Connecticut is one of 13 states in the Federal Highway Administration’s “Value Pricing Pilot Program,” which requires congestion pricing to encourage commuters to drive at off-peak times. Federal law also allows tolls to pay for the reconstruction of highways.
“Connecticut has not determined where it would seek federal tolling authority on their projects,” Essenmacher said. “It remains to be seen how exactly the tolling scheme would be played out under federal law.”Based on Lamont’s comments Monday, Connecticut has considerable work to do.
His predecessor, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, arranged for the Bond Commission to approve $10 million in planning funds for a tolling system, but Lamont has yet to sign off on going ahead with the expenditure and seems disinclined to do so until the legislature signals its supports for tolls.
Lamont has presented lawmakers with two options: electronic tolling on all motor vehicles or just trucks, as he proposed during the campaign. But the first option clearly is Lamont’s choice, as his administration now concedes that trucks-only tolls would raise too little revenue to make a difference and would be vulnerable to legal challenge.
“We’re going to lay out these different options to the legislature,” Lamont said Monday. “Once we get a green light on how we want to proceed, then we’re going to put in place the study we need to tell us exactly how we roll this out and, working with the legislature, figure out what is a reasonable way to price it and what it looks like.”
There is a chicken-and-egg aspect to the tolls issue: Lamont wants legislative endorsement to spend more money, but some legislators want more details that could require further study.
CDM Smith, a consultant for the state Department of Transportation, produced an evaluation last year of various tolling options for a system far more extensive than Lamont now wants lawmakers to consider. In addition to the Merritt and interstates 84, 91 and 95, that evaluation assumed tolls on Routes, 2, 8 and 9, the state’s busiest highways, and secondary intestates like 291, 395 and 691.
Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano, R-North Haven, said the Smith study is of limited use, given that Lamont’s proposal is different than the potential system evaluated by the consultant. He wants the governor to consider a Republican infrastructure plan that would rely on the state’s existing borrowing capacity, but set transportation as a priority.
“I’m looking forward to having a conversation with the governor,” Fasano said. “I’m sure we will be having a conversation.”But Fasano, as well as the construction industry, has criticized Lamont’s budget proposal for diverting some spending from transportation in the near-term, while holding out the promise of as much as $800 million in annual tolling revenue, beginning no earlier than 2023. Lamont was unable to say Monday what projects might be delayed due to the near-term cut.The mixmaster project began in June, funded by previously allocated bonding. With the design costs included, the project will cost about $200 million. It is scheduled to be completed in September 2022. By then, the issue of highway tolls presumably will be long resolved, and Lamont will be in the final months of a re-election campaign or watching a fight among would-be successors.
Waterbury Mayor Neil O’Leary and two local legislators, Reps. Ron Napoli and Geraldo Reyes Jr., and Don Shubert, the head of a construction trade group, joined Lamont on Monday to promote transportation spending and tolls as vital to economic growth in Connecticut. O’Leary said a recently completed widening of I-84 already has eased congestion and raised property values of the city’s east side.
“We’ve got to get this transportation system moving,” Lamont said. “We cannot get growing again until we get Connecticut moving again.”
On Tuesday, Lamont will hold a press conference at the mile-long Gold Star Memorial Bridge, which carries 106,000 vehicles every day on I-95 across the Thames River between Groton and New London. He is to be accompanied by local mayors and Shubert, the president of the Connecticut Construction Industry Association.
Shubert applauds Lamont’s call for tolls, but is opposed to elements of the governor’s proposed “debt diet” that could postpone hundreds of millions of dollars in potential borrowing for transportation to help solve larger problems in Connecticut’s finances.
“I think scaling back right now would be catastrophic,” Shubert says.
Lamont said crucial maintenance would continue.The governor, a Democrat, invoked an unlikely ally, the Trump administration, in his call for tolls. Lamont said Vice President Mike Pence encouraged governors to think about transportation when he addressed the National Governors Association over the weekend.
“He brought up the fact that the number one priority of this administration is get an infrastructure bill passed, and passed in this session right now — nothing more important, Republicans and Democrats, labor and business, keep our folks working, get our states moving again,” Lamont said. “I think that is going to happen and when that happens I want to make sure Connecticut is at the front of the line.”
Susan Raff (VIDEO)
WATERBURY, CT (WFSB) - Connecticut's governor discussed the future of the state's transportation infrastructure during a news conference in Waterbury. Gov. Ned Lamont was at the mixmaster construction area on Monday at 9:30 a.m.Lamont, transportation commissioner Joseph Giulietti, Mayor Neil O'Leary, Rep. Geraldo Reyes and Rep. Ron Napoli spoke about the 50-year-old mixmaster. They described the point where Interstate 84 and Route 8 come together as an elevated maze of intersecting, overlapping and diverging bridges.
They said it's used by more than 180,000 vehicles per day.
It's also a source of severe congestion and bottlenecking.
"We've got to do a better job. It doesn't happen overnight, but it starts right now," said Lamont.
Lamont made transportation one of the focal points of his budget, which he presented last week.
He held a similar infrastructure news conference on Thursday in Hartford during which he said the I-84 viaduct in that area was in desperate need of repair.
He also said in its current state, the cost is high to maintain.
Roughly $200 million is being spent on basic repairs, but it's not enough to ease congestion and make the ride smoother for commuters.
"Improving traffic flow on I-84 in Waterbury will have a positive effect on commerce and freight throughout the entire state," said Commissioner Joseph Giulietti, Department of Transportation.
Waterbury's Mayor said some of the work has paid off, but a lot more is needed.
"Businesses have moved in, and have relocated to the east side of the city because you can now get in and out of this city," said Mayor Neil O'Leary.
What's being done is considered a band aid. The plan is to eliminate the mixmaster all together, get rid of the maze of highways and intersections, to create a better flow for traffic.
Lamont said that to get the state moving again, sacrifices would have to be made.
Some of those sacrifices may include tolls on all vehicles, an option he said he is considering.
The Senate Minority Leaders said residents can pay for projects without tolls. The Republican plan prioritizes bonding, but that means some cities and towns may not get funding for their own projects.
Lamont has been critical of the GOP plan for being too heavy on borrowing.
"He's on a solo track, no matter what tolls cost taxpayers in Connecticut. And to this day, he has not told people what these tolls will cost the people of Connecticut," said Senator Len Fasano.
More on the I-84 mixmaster rehab project can be found here.
It's also a source of severe congestion and bottlenecking.
"We've got to do a better job. It doesn't happen overnight, but it starts right now," said Lamont.
Lamont made transportation one of the focal points of his budget, which he presented last week.
He held a similar infrastructure news conference on Thursday in Hartford during which he said the I-84 viaduct in that area was in desperate need of repair.
He also said in its current state, the cost is high to maintain.
Roughly $200 million is being spent on basic repairs, but it's not enough to ease congestion and make the ride smoother for commuters.
"Improving traffic flow on I-84 in Waterbury will have a positive effect on commerce and freight throughout the entire state," said Commissioner Joseph Giulietti, Department of Transportation.
Waterbury's Mayor said some of the work has paid off, but a lot more is needed.
"Businesses have moved in, and have relocated to the east side of the city because you can now get in and out of this city," said Mayor Neil O'Leary.
What's being done is considered a band aid. The plan is to eliminate the mixmaster all together, get rid of the maze of highways and intersections, to create a better flow for traffic.
Lamont said that to get the state moving again, sacrifices would have to be made.
Some of those sacrifices may include tolls on all vehicles, an option he said he is considering.
The Senate Minority Leaders said residents can pay for projects without tolls. The Republican plan prioritizes bonding, but that means some cities and towns may not get funding for their own projects.
Lamont has been critical of the GOP plan for being too heavy on borrowing.
"He's on a solo track, no matter what tolls cost taxpayers in Connecticut. And to this day, he has not told people what these tolls will cost the people of Connecticut," said Senator Len Fasano.
More on the I-84 mixmaster rehab project can be found here.
Alexander Soule
The crane and lift maker Terex is projecting lower overall sales this year, after reaching an agreement late last week to sell a division based in Germany that makes all-terrain “crawler” cranes, but expects revenue increases in its continuing businesses.
Westport-based Terex reported a 17 percent increase in revenue last year to $5.1 billion, while forecasting $4.7 billion in revenue in 2019. Terex’s global backlog of orders was more than $1.9 billion as of December, the highest level since the previous March.
Terex shares are up nearly a third this year to above $36 on Monday, a level the issue last reached in October.
Terex is selling its Demag Mobile Cranes division in Germany for $215 million to the Japan-based truck crane maker Tadano. In conjunction with the deal, Terex is also ending production of mobile cranes in Oklahoma City, where it will continue to produce “telehandler” forklifts with extendable booms.
Terex’s biggest seller is its line of motorized Genie aerial platforms used to lift construction workers, with global sales of $2.6 billion. Genie’s main production plant in Washington was closed for a week this month after a winter blizzard there, with a possible impact on Terex’s overall results in the current first quarter.
Overall North American sales jumped 22 percent, tops of any region where the company sells equipment, with Asia sales seeing a year-over-year gain at only half that level. After the Trump administration levied new tariffs last year on a range of imports from China, Garrison said Terex “reset prices” in his words to recover a significant amount of those extra costs, with the company having disclosed previously surcharges to cover the cost of steel parts for its machines.
Under Garrison, Terex has been working to reduce its administrative expenses, but in 2017 added 100 U.S. employees to give it 5,000 in all. Garrison said Terex has a “zero harm” safety program under way, in his words, which he credited with contributing to a 27 percent reduction in employee “loss time” last year.
Lamont says tolls needed to fund projects like Mixmaster replacement in Waterbury
Paul Hughes
WATERBURY — The Mixmaster was the backdrop for Gov. Ned Lamont’s latest plea for more transportation funding on Monday morning.
The newly elected governor and state Department of Transpiration Commissioner Joseph J. Giulietti spoke of a need to fund projects to maintain the state’s transportation system, including the aging ramps and bridges that comprise the junction of Route 8 and Interstate 84.
Lamont reiterated his call for tolls as a means to generate the funding needed.
A $152 million rehabilitation of the Mixmaster that’s currently underway is expected to extend its lifespan by about 30 years. After that, the interchange will need to be replaced at a cost of billions of dollars, the DOT said.
The crane and lift maker Terex is projecting lower overall sales this year, after reaching an agreement late last week to sell a division based in Germany that makes all-terrain “crawler” cranes, but expects revenue increases in its continuing businesses.
Westport-based Terex reported a 17 percent increase in revenue last year to $5.1 billion, while forecasting $4.7 billion in revenue in 2019. Terex’s global backlog of orders was more than $1.9 billion as of December, the highest level since the previous March.
Terex shares are up nearly a third this year to above $36 on Monday, a level the issue last reached in October.
Terex is selling its Demag Mobile Cranes division in Germany for $215 million to the Japan-based truck crane maker Tadano. In conjunction with the deal, Terex is also ending production of mobile cranes in Oklahoma City, where it will continue to produce “telehandler” forklifts with extendable booms.
CEO John Garrison Jr. said Monday that Terex will reinvest much of those proceeds in an expansion of manufacturing capacity in other parts of its business including at a new plant in South Dakota focused on the utilities sector.
Garrison said the decision to curtail production of the Oklahoma City lines was made after an analysis of the profit potential for those cranes. Terex is retaining several product lines including tower cranes; wheeled, rough-terrain cranes made in Italy; and “pick and carry” trucks with booms to lift large objects.“We basically came to the conclusion that the ... (investment) return profile on these products did not meet our criteria; (and) would require substantially more investment (over) time to get a return on that investment, and it was not acceptable,” Garrison said. “With that said, the crane businesses that we are retaining our strong businesses.”Terex’s biggest seller is its line of motorized Genie aerial platforms used to lift construction workers, with global sales of $2.6 billion. Genie’s main production plant in Washington was closed for a week this month after a winter blizzard there, with a possible impact on Terex’s overall results in the current first quarter.
Overall North American sales jumped 22 percent, tops of any region where the company sells equipment, with Asia sales seeing a year-over-year gain at only half that level. After the Trump administration levied new tariffs last year on a range of imports from China, Garrison said Terex “reset prices” in his words to recover a significant amount of those extra costs, with the company having disclosed previously surcharges to cover the cost of steel parts for its machines.
Full-year profits were down 12 percent to below $114 million, including a $33 million loss in the fourth quarter created by a $67 million charge against earnings to account for an “annuitization” of the company’s U.S. pension.
Terex stated on Monday that it expects to reduce its future pension liabilities by $109 million, after reaching an agreement last November with an insurance company to transfer the obligation to pay remaining retirement benefits of all plan participants in its U.S. defined benefit plan. Terex had reported a $153 million accumulated pension obligation entering 2018 for U.S. workers, and $229 million for workers in its international operations.Under Garrison, Terex has been working to reduce its administrative expenses, but in 2017 added 100 U.S. employees to give it 5,000 in all. Garrison said Terex has a “zero harm” safety program under way, in his words, which he credited with contributing to a 27 percent reduction in employee “loss time” last year.
Lamont says tolls needed to fund projects like Mixmaster replacement in Waterbury
Paul Hughes
WATERBURY — The Mixmaster was the backdrop for Gov. Ned Lamont’s latest plea for more transportation funding on Monday morning.
The newly elected governor and state Department of Transpiration Commissioner Joseph J. Giulietti spoke of a need to fund projects to maintain the state’s transportation system, including the aging ramps and bridges that comprise the junction of Route 8 and Interstate 84.
Lamont reiterated his call for tolls as a means to generate the funding needed.
A $152 million rehabilitation of the Mixmaster that’s currently underway is expected to extend its lifespan by about 30 years. After that, the interchange will need to be replaced at a cost of billions of dollars, the DOT said.