Last week, a bipartisan group of state legislators voiced their concerns about Connecticut’s worsening neglect of mass transit in a press conference at the Milford station. Governor Rowland’s 2005 budget proposes a 5.5% commuter rail fare hike and reallocates $8.3 million for new rail cars to other projects. The money was meant to be a first payment toward a $60 million purchase of 20 rail cars.

"Constantly increasing fees without reinvesting in Metro-North service will decrease the number of commuters who use the service, and contribute to the state’s transportation problems," Representative Themis Klarides told the New Haven Register. He was joined by House Majority Leader James Amann, Senator Win Smith and Representative Richard Roy.

Also last week, 42 CT lawmakers wrote to state officials pushing for new rail cars. Approximately one-third of rail cars on Metro-North’s New Haven line were out of service in recent weeks because the antiquated fleet breaks down in certain snow and temperature conditions.

Meanwhile, Connecticut continues to invest heavily to expand roads. Its state DOT seems to be the least reformed, old-line paving outfit in the northeast. In North Branford, for instance, ConnDOT has allocated $17 million since 2000 to widen a one mile portion of Route 80 from two lanes to three. The project will take 13 feet of the Town Green, which was established in 1724, and houses a historic church, burial ground, and nursery school. Community groups and town officials have created an alternative plan that expands the green and solves some traffic dilemmas. A DOT spokesperson told the Register that the community’s plans may be incorporated after the project is complete. "Our project plans are essentially complete, and to go and do that work (first) we’d have to go back and redesign the (original) plan, which would cause delays," he told the paper.

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