Revised CT Transportation Strategy Bill
Released
Last week, the CT legislature's Transportation Committee released a
revised version of HB
6985, the bill to create a new Transportation Strategy Board and to
fund $40 million in quick-fix transportation projects
Important change to the bill are the following:
-
A section would now create a Board of Directors to operate and develop
Bradley Airport. A member of the Board of Directors would also be a member
of the Transportation Strategy Board.
-
The criteria that the new Transportation Strategy Board must follow in
building its ten-year transportation development plan now includes Connecticut's
Conservation and Development Plan, the state document that guides land
use. The Transportation Choices Coalition, a 14-organization alliance
that includes CT Fund for the Environment and the Tri-State Campaign, has
called for a moratorium on highway expansion and construction in Plan-defined
conservation and preservation areas.
-
The bill directs $50 million to be spent on twenty-plus projects
or initiatives across the state, ranging from highway and transit studies
to more bus service in Hartford and the coastal corridor. However, unlike
the original bill, how much money will be allocated to specific projects
is not identified.
Transportation Choices Coalition
groups joined other constituencies in expressing dismay that the revision
still does not give the Board a substantive role in reviewing the Department
of Transportation budget or approving appointment of the Transportation
Commissioner. The new bill also continues to deny the Board independent
funds and staff, leading many to wonder what it will be able to accomplish.
