House Speaker Chris Donovan sent out a press release today about the plan for a commuter rail running between New Haven to Springfield, Mass. He is making a push to secure some federal stimulus dollars for the project.
The president dedicated $8 billion for high speed rail initiatives in his stimulus plan, and it looks like Connecticut will have to put the wheels in motion (no pun intended) if it wants some of that money. It will be competing with other states for the cash.
Donovan is recognizing that there will be competition and is pushing for Gov. Rell to release $30 million for project planning and design next month. He is also putting together a high-level working group to determine the best use of stimulus funds and to investigate how the environmental review associated with the project can be expedited.
With Connecticut facing deficits for this fiscal year and the two that follow, is now a good time to release $30 million? When will we actually see this commuter rail?
The idea was part of a 2006 transportation package and plans have a train stopping in Meriden. So far there has been a lot of talk, but little action. Politicians say the process has been slow, particularly because of Amtrak. Federal legislation passed in 2008 helped speed the process up, but Connecticut residents are still a long way from taking a commuter rail to its neighboring state.
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