Connecticut Lawmakers Livid at the State’s Transport Stimulus Shutout
Connecticut was not alone in its failure to win any funding from the Obama administration's competition for $1.5 billion in TIGER stimulus grants, but its Democratic members of Congress are not nursing their wounds quietly.
Outlined in purple are improvements to Stamford's Harbor Point neighborhood that would have been funded by TIGER grants. (Image: ConnDOT)A group of Nutmeg State lawmakers led by Rep. Jim Himes (D) have asked for a meeting next week with U.S. DOT chief Ray LaHood to discuss the state's shutout from TIGER (short for Transportation Investments Generating Economic Recovery), according to the Hartford Courant:
"I was outraged when I got the news," [Himes] said Thursday afternoon. " Chris Dodd was exceedingly angry. John Larson was not happy. We all called the White House. This is just unacceptable," Himes said.
At least one state lawmaker is saying that Connecticut's transportationdepartment dropped the ball, particularly since this is the second timethis month that the state has fared miserably in competition for majorfederal transportation aid. State DOT officials insist that they are asdisappointed as anyone and that they've done everything possible to wina share of the money.
Connecticut had filed applications with the U.S. DOT for a total of $630 million in TIGER funding. The Courant reports that the state DOT sought $330 million of those bids, with local and regional proposals comprising the remainder.
Some of the state-endorsed TIGER projects will still move forward even without federal funding, the Courant notes, but several other Connecticut development plans will sit idle now that the state has lost its stimulus bids.
Among those likely-stalled proposals is the Stamford area's Complete Streets and Transit Access pitch (available for download here), which asked for $21.3 million of federal money to promote new transit-oriented development in a low-income neighborhood while adding bike lanes and sidewalks to local streets and putting new jitney buses into circulation. The local contribution to the proposal would have accounted for 20 percent of the total cost, putting Stamford's application at a potential disadvantage compared with other TIGER aspirants.
It's worth noting that this week's TIGER awards are not the only shot for cities such as Stamford to vie for federal aid. Congress approved $600 million for merit-based transport and development grants in its 2010 appropriations cycle.
Stay in touch
Sign up for our free newsletter
More from Streetsblog USA
Who’s to Blame for Tuesday’s Headlines?
Are the people in this photo inherently "vulnerable", or is this car just dangerous?
Why Riders With Disabilities Have To Sue For Accessible Transit Stops
A Bay Area transit agency is only the latest to be sued over inaccessible stations. What will it take to get every American stop ADA compliant?
Monday’s Headlines Reconnect With Pete
More than $3 billion is flowing out of the White House to help correct infrastructure mistakes in Black communities.
‘Buy, Bully, Bamboozle’: Report Shows App Companies Threaten Democracy
App delivery companies seek to block worker-led improvements by spending big money on political influence, leveraging their data, and even co-opting progressive language, argues a new report that lands days before a national one-day strike by app-workers.
How the Myth that ‘100 Companies’ Are Responsible for Climate Change Hides the True Impact of Automobility
An influential report pins responsibility for the climate crisis to just a handful of oil, gas and cement producers. But who's buying what they're selling — and who's creating policy that makes many of those purchases functionally compulsory?
