[JayCT]

Originally Posted by Mr_250

No one is denying he is smart. Actually he sounds brilliant. He is a very good talking head and thinker. I think the panel lacks contractors. Companies who have the pulse on actually building the product. Too many times I have come across plans that engineers design that are physically impossible to do in the field. Having the "political" people there mixed with some contractors might be a good thing. I work with the DOT every day and work on some of the largest projects in the Northeast and I could tell you first hand that some of the DOT Engineers (project) don't know how to build highways. They can design and delegate and direct but building a different story. They don't understand the concept of material lead time or manpower or erection time and cost.

Just a thought if you had some contractors on board you might have the oppurtunity to lower cost of some of the projects.

Yeah but this is not building a highway or bridge. It is financing it. That does not require an engineer or contractor. It requires people who know the system and financing. Jay

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by AntonioR

Drive up West Side Highway or Roosevelt Drive, merge to I-95 northbound, after entering the Bronx get off at first exit for Major Deegan Highway northbound; then get off at the exit for the Saw Mill Parkway northbound, then get off at the exit to merge with Cross County Parkway and the follow the signs for the Hutchinson Parkway northbound and keep going until you reach CT.

If traffic on I-95 Cross Bronx is not the usual bumper to bumper, then don't exit for the Major Deegan. Instead continue aong I-95 until the Co-Op area where the exit for the Hutchinson Parkway nothbound appears and merge there. Then its smooth sailing al the way to CT without paying a single toll.

While it sounds much more complicated than it really is, it takes roughly the same amount of time as going along I-95 but with no tolls.

I have been this way and it is not easy. The point is you have to pay a toll northbound unless you want to go a round-about way back. Jay

[NewEnglandMan22]

If the tolls are open road ones that read a transponder couldn't they be specifically programmed to only take the toll on out of state vehicles? Would that be a good compromise? I think I read somewhere that some folks register their cars out of state to avoid the cost... wouldn't this be an incentive to have a CT plate? We might actually even get regular commuters to register their vehicles here just to avoid the tolls which means we still get the needed $$$. I realize it might come across as anti-tourism but something about the 75% out-of-state usage of our infrastructure (without necessarily having to stop for gas or food) is very frustrating.

[Mr_250]

Here's a new idea on the table - Privatization of some Highways. This is huge down south and I am familiar with in Florida. I love this idea! It offers huge economic impact to the area with very little tax payers money. Tolls will be instated but the highway is maintained by a private company not CTDOT. The private company is liable for anything that happens on their road so you know it will be maintained really well.

Privatization an option for highway infrastructure fixes - StamfordAdvocate

[JayCT]

Rhode Island is going to try and place tolls on bridges around the state. The article below discusses how they plan to do it. It sounds like they want to place them on any bridge, even minor ones. I am not sure Federal Highway will agree to it, but it will be interesting to see what happens. Jay

R.I. plan would make large trucks pay tolls on 17 to 20 bridges - News - providencejournal.com - Providence, RI

[seanhenry]

Truckers would just pass the additional toll costs onto consumers and we all end up paying more in the end.

[GoHuskies]

Originally Posted by MiaMia411

Juts some more BS from your state officials, where has all the money been going previously ? Do CT residents like more taxes and fees? Seems like it.

The state didn't need to spend several billion to replace the I-84 viaduct until recently.

[Milfordlol]

Wait isn't this why we pay vehicle tax? To maintain our roads?

Put tolls on borders @ 95 NY, 95 RI and 91 MA and only make out of state vehicles pay.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by Milfordlol

Wait isn't this why we pay vehicle tax? To maintain our roads?

Put tolls on borders @ 95 NY, 95 RI and 91 MA and only make out of state vehicles pay.

The problem has been that the tax has not been raised in years and gas use is down so when you consider inflation there is less money available for highways. Jay

[hucareshokiesrul]

Someone correct me if I'm mistaken, but the vehicle tax is just part of your property taxes you pay to your city. It's the gas tax that's supposed to fund the roads. As gas prices have increased over the years, the gas tax, (which is flat excise tax of X cents per gallon and is not indexed to inflation), has not increased at the same rate, so the gas tax as a percentage of gas sales as decreased a lot. I doubt there is any state in the country that doesn't take money from the rest of the budget to cover the gas tax shortfall.

The original idea of a tax on gas is that it's a usage fee. The people buying gas are the ones using the roads. Now, though, the rest of the budget subsidizes roads, but tolls would be a way of having the people actually using to roads cover the cost of their construction and maintenance.