Rutigliano adamant on infrastructure upgrades: “Best interest to help most productive be more productive”

HARTFORD — Rep. Dave Rutigliano (R-Trumbull) attended a bipartisan Regional Transportation Caucus press conference Jan. 30 in the State Capitol. Republican and Democratic House and Senate members joined in pledging support for immediate improvements for Fairfield County’s highways, bridges, and rail lines.

The bipartisan legislators noted that 45% of Connecticut’s tax revenue comes from Fairfield County residents, most who commute long hours to and from their places of work.

Rep. Rutigliano, Ranking Member of the legislature’ Labor and Public Employees Committee, expressed surprise and concern over the state of Fairfield County’s infrastructure.

“These needs have to be immediately addressed,” said Rep. Rutigliano. “It doesn’t make sense that Fairfield County produces most of the state’s tax revenue, but has some of the worst infrastructure in the state. If we want the health of the state’s economy to continue improving, fixing our roads and bridges to help our workers and commuters is clear path to help us get there,” he said.

Rep. Gail Lavielle (R- 143) said that safeguarding the region’s vitality is extremely critical to the recovery of Connecticut’s economy.

“Transportation is essential to our economy, our ability to move people and goods, our property values, and our quality of life. In many ways, it determines the fate of Connecticut as a state. Those of us from southwestern Connecticut understand this particularly well. Our region is not only the gateway to Connecticut; it’s also the gateway to New England. If it goes down, or becomes inaccessible, New England goes with it,” she said.

Fairfield County is home to four moveable bridges that are more than 100 years old and obsolete railway electrification system catenary wires. The Connecticut Regional Plan Association estimates that repairs would cost $3.6 billion.

Rep. Johnathan Steinberg (D- 136) expressed optimism about the outlook of improvements, especially in light of the Governor’s recent pledge of support for state infrastructure upgrades, and emphasized that Connecticut needs a plan sooner rather than later.

“The New Haven to Hartford rail line and enhancements to our branch lines will bring greater economic activity across the state, but these projects will never realize their potential unless we swiftly address the dire situation on the main line. A state-of-the-art transportation system will not succeed unless we buckle down to find the means to fix our deteriorating bridges, guarantee the safety and reliability of our transit and acknowledge that the economic engine of the state demands a singular commitment,” he said.

“We’re all here today because we applaud the initiative the governor has taken to make our transportation infrastructure a top priority, and because we believe that the segments of our infrastructure that are already heavily used should be addressed as soon as possible, said Rep. Lavielle

125-150,000 vehicles travel daily through Fairfield County, and its commuter railroad and branch lines provide 39 million passenger rides a year.

“Through hard work, we’ll come up with realistic solutions for these issues. Our residents and commuters are depending on it. It’s in the state’s best interest to help the most productive be more productive,” said Rep. Rutigliano.

The Regional Transportation Caucus will continue meeting through the 2015 legislative session to continue brainstorming 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.