Some of Connecticut's members of Congress made it a point Monday to call on the incoming Trump administration for more details on what its infrastructure plan looks like.
"The devil is in the details," said Sen. Richard Blumenthal.
The President-elect discussed during the campaign the need for a $1 trillion package aimed at spurring investment in road, bridge, and public transit projects which he said would lead to economic growth.
The issue for Connecticut elected leaders is that the bulk of the plan considered private funds as the way forward, rather than the federal government borrowing money to pay for projects.
"You cannot rebuild Connecticut’s infrastructure based on private financing alone," said Sen. Chris Murphy. "You simply cannot toll the thousands of roads and bridges that need work."
One of the projects that has received the most urgent calls for replacement from Gov. Dannel Malloy and Congressman John Larson has been to re-engineer I-84 through Hartford and East Hartford.
The plans in the works recently have been to change some of the routing of the highway, while placing what amounts to a cap above the roadway, creating new commercial and greenspace at street level.
Local
Larson's plan would create a new tunnel entirely that would take the interstate below ground, beneath the Connecticut River and resurfacing near East Hartford. It's estimated the tunnel plan could cost as much as $10 billion while the covered alternative would cost less than half that.
Blumenthal said of the project, "I'm in favor of any project that reduces congestion, improves infrastructure, and keeps jobs in Connecticut and I commend Rep. Larson for this effort."
Murphy also voiced support for the project, but said it's hard to start planning for anything unless and until Congress acts.
"Absent a major new investment in infrastructure, those kinds of big projects can’t get done."
Murphy said he and Blumenthal want to see a public-private partnership where investors back major road and bridge projects, while the federal government uses its clout to borrow money.
He said if the government doesn't act soon, it could get even more expensive for taxpayers.
"If you’re going to be borrowing money, do it now because rates are going and if you don’t start borrowing money today to pay for infrastructure it’s going to get a whole lot more expensive once these bridges do start falling down."
