(The Stamford Advocate posted the following article by Jonathan Lucas on its website on April 1.)
HARTFORD, Conn. — The General Assembly’s Transportation Committee yesterday approved proposed legislation intended to relieve traffic congestion and improve highway safety.
The committee passed more than 20 bills to the full Legislature for consideration by the end of the session in June. Among them was a bill to implement many of the proposals of the state Transportation Strategy Board and placing tough new restrictions on 16- and 17-year-old drivers.
The proposed TSB legislation includes the acquisition of new locomotives and rail cars to provide more than 4,000 new seats on Metro-North Railroad’s New Haven Line and calls for the launch of feeder barge service to carry more goods on Long Island Sound rather than Interstate 95.
However, the bill does not have the support of local commuter advocates and leaders representing lower Fairfield County, who say it does not go far enough in addressing congestion concerns and includes some items they find unpalatable.
Greenwich committee members, state Sen. William Nickerson and state Rep. Lile Gibbons, pushed to remove a provision of the bill calling for a study to determine whether weigh stations can be used as rest areas for trucks. The proposal was opposed by local leaders on the South Western Metropolitan Planning Organization.
State Sen. William Aniskovich, R-Branford, ranking member of the committee, opposed the bill, saying it usurps the authority of the TSB, formed by the Legislature and Gov. John Rowland in 2001 to address the state’s transportation problems, and hands power over to the General Assembly and state bureaucrats.
Despite the inclusion of some objectionable items, Nickerson voted in favor of the bill, saying he would work to improve the package as it makes its way to the state Senate.
“One thing that is certain is that this bill can’t be passed in its current form,” Nickerson said following the vote. “It wasn’t the shining hour of this committee to give so little consideration to a bill as important as the TSB bill.”
Gibbons voted against the bill and said she was disappointed that it did not do enough to address gridlock in the southwest corridor.
The committee also approved a companion bill to the TSB legislation that aims to crack down on speeders and calls for the possible closure of some of the state’s more than 900 entrance and exit ramps to help alleviate highway congestion.
While some committee members argued that the bill is too harsh in imposing a 30-day suspension on motorists who are caught speeding twice within two years, others said something must be done to slow down traffic on state highways.
“Speeding is not a minor violation,” said committee co-chairman, state Rep. Jacqueline Cocco, D-Bridgeport. “How do we control it if we don’t stand up and say this is inappropriate behavior in Connecticut? How do we let the general public know that we’re serious about this type of behavior on the road.”
The bill also would increase enforcement by allowing police to use photo radar systems that would automatically issue tickets and send them to speeding motorists.
“This is sending out a message,” said committee co-chairman, state Sen. Biagio “Billy” Ciotto, D-Wethersfield. “If you speed flagrantly in the state of Connecticut, you’re going to get your license suspended.”
The committee also approved a measure to impose stricter standards for teens to get driver’s licenses and prohibiting them from carrying passengers.
A similar bill was overwhelmingly approved by the state Senate last year, but it never made it to a vote in the state House of Representatives.
Connecticut is one of 13 states that has not implemented a graduated drivers’ licensing system. The National Transportation Safety Board has put tougher licensing standards on its “most wanted” list of recommendations and is urging state officials to adopt the system.
Nickerson tried to place further restrictions in the bill by imposing a midnight to 5 a.m. curfew on 16- and 17-year-old drivers, but his amendment failed.