ACEC/CT Update

A Field Guide to Highway Interchanges

Click here for link to The Infrastructurist: America Under Construction two-part series of the art of the highway interchange. Who says that engineers don't create beauty. It's often not readily visible.

Commissioner Marie Big on Rail

The Bristol Press reports on the comments of Connecticut DOT Commissioner Joseph Marie on various rail projects in the state. Read article here. He also addressed a Chamber of Commerce meeting in Waterbury and noted that the Waterbury to Hartford rail line would need considerable improvement. Read article here.

Early Retirements at ConnDOT a Big Concern

Connecticut will give about 3,000 state employees an incentive to retire early as a way of reducing costs. The employees will have until July 1 to take advantage of the offer and it's expected that Connecticut of Transportation will be among the hardest hit by the plan. Legislative leaders are concerned (Read Stamford Advocate article) and Commissioner Joseph Marie also expressed concern in his address to ACEC/CT members last month.

US Senate Seeks to Shape Transportation Authorization

The Washington Post reports that the Chair of the Senate's transportation Committee has introduced legislation that would steer the federal transportation program away from highways and toward rail and reducing carbon emissions.

Federal Money for Connecticut Infrastructure

Congressman Jim Overstar, Chair of the US House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, visited Connecticut this morning and spoke at a breakfast meeting of the Connecticut Road Builders Association at Bradley Airport. Chairman Overstar promised to have a surface transportation bill on the House floor in June. The six-year reauthorization bill would be in the $400 - $50 billion range and Connecticut's share would increase from the approximately $2.4 billion in the current SAFETEA-LU authorization bill to over $4 billion. The federal transportation program would be reorganized from over 100 separate programs to four with greater flexibility on the part of states to reallocate funds to meet their needs. However, allocations would be "performance based."

Chairman Overstar assured the audience that the bill would have little trouble getting through the House and Senate. However, serious questions remain. Most important question is how the program will be funded. Much of the current transportation program is funded by the federal gas tax. At the recent ACEC national conference, DOT Secretary Ray LaHood was adamant in his statement that the Obama administration would not raise the federal gas tax. Chairman Overstar has been discussing a vehicle mileage tax (VMT). When Secretary LaHood brought up the possibility of the VMT earlier this year, the administration knocked down that idea. Chairman Overstar took only three prearranged questions from the audience this morning, none of which included funding.

On a side note, while I'm sure it's nice to know that, like all great visionary documents,Chairman Overstar reorganized the federal transportation program on the back of a cocktail napkin; I'd have preferred to see it at least typed up so that it was readable.

$5.6 million in Stimulus for Flood Control

Governor Rell announced $5.6 million has been allocated to Connecticut for flood control projects by USACE. Click here for list of projects.

Transportation Bills Advance

As reported in the Hartford Courant, several bills which would study light rail for the state (SB 237), reserves 1% of transportation projects for pedestrian and bike paths (SB384) and require plans for smart growth (HB6467), have passed the Appropriations Committee. The bills now go to the floor of each chamber.

Smart Bridge

A Modern Concrete Bridge for the Future, will be presented by Linda Figg, President/CEO, FIGG, at the CRMCA Annual Meeting that is scheduled for 11:30am, Wednesday, May 6th, at Angelo’s on Main, West Hartford. The new bridge in Minneapolis was designed and built in just 11 months. This presentation features 'smart bridge' technology, community involvement in the design, and other successes that inspire concrete bridges in America. For reservations, contact Carol Hall at chall@ctconstruction.org, or by calling 860-529-6855.

Chairman Oberstar Comes to CT

Congressman James Oberstar, Chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, will be the guest speaker at the spring meeting of the Connecticut Road Builders Association, 7:30 AM, Friday, at the Bradley Airport Sheraton. Click here for more information.

Congressman Oberstar has announced that he will have a comprehensive surface transportation authorization bill out of his committee and onto the House floor within weeks.

The legislation will have dramatic impact on the country. AASHTO and others have called for major increases in federal and local spending for transportation infrastructure. How the federal government will pay for a much larger transportation program will be hotly debated. The bill may include a vehicle mile tax rather than an increase in the gas tax. How the VMT is paid will raise privacy and other issues.

DOT Commissioner Marie Addresses ACEC/CT Audience

Connecticut DOT Commissioner Joseph Marie addressed an audience of over 80 members and guests last week at the monthly ACEC/CT dinner meeting. Coming from a mass transit background in both the public and private sectors, Commissioner Marie is working to bring a greater balance of mass transit and auto-based transportation spending. He is particularly interested in developing the New Haven to Springfield commuter line and believes that we can have service operating within five years.

The first ConnDOT stimulus contract should be signed soon and some consultants will receive Construction Inspection and Engineering work from these contracts. He encouraged us to press Congress to pass the surface transportation authorization by the September 30 deadline.