Tom Warne Report, 5 August 2013
HARTFORD – More than 40 bridges will soon be repaired and 250 miles of state roads will be improved and repaved under an initiative announced by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy on Friday. The program approved early that day by the State Bond Commission approved $537 million for transportation projects throughout the state, leveraging $600 million in federal funds. The program worth more than $1 billion will help support the creation or maintenance of 20,000 construction jobs as well.
Malloy said even though gas tax revenues are declining as vehicles become more fuel efficient, there is still enough to cover the $537 million in bonding. Among the upgrades included in the initiative are reconstructing Exits 5 and 6 on I-84 and Route 37 in Danbury and resurfacing the Merritt Parkway in Stratford and Milford.
“We continue to chip away at our bridge projects and have a backlog that goes back years,” said State Department of Transportation Commissioner James Redeker. “We are now rolling out an additional 30 bridges. We have no bridges that are unsafe and we are addressing all of those that need repair each year.”
He said the majority of the transportation projects in the plans will be sent out to bid in the spring and will take an average of two years to complete.