Bolinsky Joins Bi-Partisan Fairfield County Caucus Making Transportation Top Priority

HARTFORD- State Rep. Mitch Bolinsky (R-106) joined a bipartisan Regional Transportation Caucus, along with fellow area Republican and Democrat House and Senate members, pledging support for immediate improvements for Fairfield County’s highways, bridges, and rail lines.

Members of the new transportation caucus talked about how Fairfield County is essential to the state’s economy, accounting for almost half its tax revenue. The key point discussed was how poor transportation infrastructure in the region hurts all of Connecticut economically.

Bolinsky said, “Fairfield County is Connecticut’s economic engine, with nearly half of all state revenues derived from its residents and businesses. With the governor’s new commitment to fixing and improving our transportation infrastructure, it simply makes sense to invest first in the critical mass that exists in our region to get the biggest bang for the state’s bucks. As a member of this new caucus, I intend to work with other Fairfield County legislators to see that our part of the state gets the priority it deserves. At the same time, I will advocate for the critical work that needs to commence in northern Fairfield County, on our important arteries, beginning with the entire I-84 corridor from Danbury through Waterbury and Metro-North’s Danbury Branch line. I-84 has too many congestion points and it’s time to make good on the decades-old discussions of widening it and upgrading interchanges. On the rails, it’s clear that Metro-North’s New Haven main-line is in distress and the state must prioritize bringing it into the 21st-century but, I also see the Danbury Branch as a logical next-step. Along with main-line upgrades, it’s time to bring more and faster service to our branch-line, through electrification and northward expansion so local commuters don’t have to cross into New York to hop Harlem-Line trains.”

About the Regional Transportation Caucus: Consisting of about 30 legislators, the Fairfield County Transportation Caucus will continue meeting through the 2015 legislative session to brainstorm initiatives and to draft immediate infrastructure improvement plans for Connecticut’s roads, passenger and freight rail lines, ports, trail, bike-lanes and transit-oriented development. The overall goal is to advocate for transportation improvements across the state but to make the link from Fairfield County to Manhattan, the state’s first priority since Interstate 95 has some of the worst traffic in the country with no concrete plans for relief in sight. Additionally, Metro-North Railroad in Fairfield County has seen a major increase in failures, breakdowns and delays over the past few years, along with decreased reliability for a variety of age-related infrastructure reasons, including, several 100+ year-old moveable bridges and obsolete railway electrification system catenary wires. The Connecticut Regional Plan Association has estimated that repairs would cost $3.6 billion.