Malloy: We'll Take Your Rail Money, Florida

You don’t want it? We’ll take it.

That’s the gist of a letter that Gov. Dannel P. Malloy sent to President Barack Obama Friday seeking a portion of the $2.4 billion in federal stimulus money for high-speed rail construction that the state of Florida rejected earlier this week.

Malloy said he would like to use the money to advance Connecticut’s own high-speed rail effort, the Springfield-Hartford-New Haven rail line, asserting in his letter addressed to the president that "Connecticut stands ready to move on high-speed rail."

"Everyone knows that effective transportation is crucial to keeping the economy moving,” said Malloy, a Democrat, in a statement. “The better the transportation infrastructure, the better positioned the economy will be to recover, prosper, and create new jobs, and that's why it is so critical for us to capitalize on the opportunity before us. This money is now up for grabs, and we're not going to waste a second. We know our project is a strong contender, and we're going to do our best to get additional funds from our federal partners."

The state’s long-in-the-works effort to revive an under utilized 62-mile portion of rail line connecting Springfield, Mass., to New Haven has been picking up steam of late. The line, which would cost an estimated $800 million to $1 billion to construct, would feature high-speed rail as well as commuter service along the corridor with trains running as often as every 30 minutes during rush hour. According to a Connecticut Department of Transportation synopsis on the project, the line could feature as many as 12 stops, including the communities of Windsor and Windsor Locks (Enfield is also being studied as a potential stop along the line), with a timetable to be fully operational by 2016.

After stagnating in the legislature since the early 1990s, Connecticut received $40 million in funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in January of 2010 to fund the installation of a second track along a 10-mile portion of the line in the Berlin area, while later that same month the State Bond Commission approved an additional $26 million to assist with the double-tracking and fund environmental surveys and design work associated with the project.

In July of last year, former Gov. M. Jodi Rell approved a $260 million bonding package to help fund the line, while the state also submitted a grant to the federal government seeking $220 million in funding through the Federal Railroad Administration for the project. But according to the release Malloy’s office sent out Friday, Connecticut only received $121 million in grant money from that request.

Malloy requested an additional $100 million from Florida’s rejected ARRA grant to help fund the project.

“We need to be progressive, and maximizing the use of this existing rail corridor, one that the state already owns,” Malloy said in a statement. “This is the best solution for reducing the stagnating traffic congestion along Interstate 91. It will help keep the air we breathe cleaner, and it will offer our state the best chance to attract new businesses and create new jobs.”

Florida’s governor, Rick Scott, a Republican, announced Wednesday that he was rejecting about $2.4 billion in ARRA money to fund construction of a Tampa-to-Orlando high-speed rail line, calling the line’s projected ridership numbers “overly-optimistic” and classifying the project as a potential liability for the state’s taxpayers.

“The truth is that this project would be far too costly to taxpayers and I believe the risk far outweighs the benefits,” Scott said in prepared remarks.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood issued a statement shortly thereafter saying he was “extremely disappointed” with Scott’s decision, and that there was “overwhelming demand” for funding for high-speed rail projects in numerous other states throughout the country. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the $787-billion "stimulus bill" passed by Congress in February of 2009, contained $8 billion in funding for high-speed rail projects.

In his statement, Malloy thanked Republican and Democratic legislative leaders from the state House and Senate for supporting his petition.

“I'm very appreciative of the support that Speaker Chris Donovan, Senate President Don Williams, Minority Leader Larry Cafero and Minority Leader John McKinney are showing by co-signing this letter with me,” Malloy said. “We're united on this and prepared to make our case."