State transportation commissioner warns federal funding cliff would imperil Connecticut projects

Commissioner Gary Leo told the Council of Governments that the five-year federal surface transportation program (the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act) expires Sept. 30 and that any reduction or delay in federal funding would sharply curtail the state’s ability to deliver large road, bridge and rail projects. "Without federal funding we would essentially come to a grinding halt in terms of infrastructure investments," Leo said during a presentation and questions from members.

Leo said the state is preparing for a range of outcomes and pressing for a successor federal bill that preserves purchasing power and includes transit and passenger-rail funding. He singled out several large movable-bridge replacements on the New Haven line and listed estimated project scales: about $3 billion for a Milford–Stratford bridge, $1 billion for a Westport bridge and $2 billion for a Greenwich bridge, all projects that rely heavily on federal matching funds. "If we don’t have federal funds to do those, we’ll essentially have to starve our road program to cover those," he said.

The commissioner described how inflation has eroded the value of the recent federal infusion and said the state’s capital program has grown nearly threefold in a decade as it tackles aging infrastructure. He noted Connecticut now uses a mix of revenue sources for its special transportation fund — about 40% from the sales tax, roughly 25% from gas and diesel taxes — and that the fund pays debt service, transit operations and DOT/DMV operations.

Members pressed Leo on specific local projects and policies. On tolls and mileage-based fees, Leo said previous tolling proposals did not pass the legislature and that mileage-based user fees, while being piloted elsewhere, would be difficult to implement in a small, multi‑border state without broader regional or national coordination. "That’s above my pay grade," he said of deciding a revenue path, adding the legislature will have to act.

On Route 9 traffic signals, Leo said final design approval by the chief engineer should occur later this fall and the DOT expects to proceed with construction next year, acknowledging a wetlands‑mitigation permitting delay. On Shoreline East rail service, he explained the trade-off between geographic coverage and frequency: extending trains to New London increases the span crews must cover and reduces the number of round trips the same labor force can operate.

Leo also outlined safety and local programs the DOT is executing: a $40 million program to expand wrong‑way driver detection systems (211 ramps currently equipped, about 1,000 activations and roughly 800 drivers who corrected course after activation), and ongoing pilots and proposed extensions for microtransit and a statewide unified fare backend that would support tap‑to‑pay across most CT rail and bus systems.

He told members the agency is working to digitize processes and experiment with productivity tools but faces limits on technology budgets and staffing, which constrain turnaround on permits and some local requests. He encouraged towns to weigh in on the state’s long‑range transportation plan (out for comment) because federal funding priorities will reference that plan.

The council thanked the commissioner for the briefing and moved to other agenda items. The presentation concluded with members asking for continued local coordination on project timelines, public outreach and grant opportunities.