This article was written by Christopher Bruhl, President & CEO, The Business Council. It originally appeared in the December 5, 2005 issue of the Fairfield County Business Journal.

The level of desperation about conditions in the I-95 corridor has never been higher. Commuters are frustrated and fearful. Editorial pages are thundering. Tractor-trailers seem to be overturning at an ever faster pace; road construction seems endless. Trains are overcrowded, while station parking spaces are beyond scarce and schedules, although reliable in seasonable weather, become erratic in wintry conditions.

Can’t anything be done?
Of course something can be done. But, if improvements were easy, they would have been completed years ago. Here are the thoughts of The Business Council of Fairfield County, developed over three decades of engagement in the issue and freshened daily though our participation in the state’s and region’s transportation planning and advocacy bodies.  

First, we need to understand our context.
The I-95 coastal corridor in Fairfield County contains four major east west routes:  I-95, Merritt Parkway, Route 1, and the Metro North rail line. All four operate as a system, with the performance of each affecting the performance of the rest. Taking one out of service briefly (remember the last tractor trailer accident on I-95 you got stuck behind ) or permanently (reduction of the number of rail cars in service – think about last winter’s horrible experience) creates system-wide consequences. 

Years of disinvestment have severely impacted system reliability. Therefore, solutions to congestion in the corridor have to include improvements to the existing highway, rail, bus, and water transportation systems as well as a variety of performance improvement and capacity enhancement measures. Longer term, we need changes in land use, economic development policies, and the delivery of public services. 

The TSB – a state body with great ideas
The Connecticut Transportation Strategy Board has offered a long term vision and plan for the state’s transportation needs. Specific, prioritized investments have been identified for each of the state’s five “transportation investment areas.”  Many more focused, region-specific options have been developed by a variety of transportation planners and advocates. “Vision 2020”, for example, is a major study released in 2003 by the South West Regional Planning Agency. It offers an excellent analysis of our challenges and a visionary set of integrated, multi-modal strategies for the corridor. Unfortunately, implementation of most recommendations have been blocked by a lack of meaningful funding. Finally, earlier this year, with the leadership of Governor Rell and the agreement of the General Assembly, a down payment (to use the Governor’s phrase) was made on the TSB plan.  $1.3 billion was appropriated for a decade’s worth of catch-up investment in mass transit (rail cars, maintenance facilities and parking) and highways (bottleneck elimination, extended exit and entrance ramps, safety improvements). 

Beyond the down payment, what should be done?
Based on the recommendations of SWRPA’s Vision 2020, the Connecticut Transportation Strategy Board’s Coastal Corridor Transportation Investment Area, the state Department of Transportation, and the Southwest Corridor Action Council, The Business Council of Fairfield County has proposed priorities for our region.

First, we must do more with what we have through reorganizing and modernizing the DOT bureaucracy and contracting processes.  We need to bring a sense of urgency to a department culture that recently “forgot” to issue rail car refurbishment bidding documents, creating an eight month delay despite the Governor’s description of the initiative as one of the state’s highest priorities.

Even more importantly, we need to refocus our efforts on the customer and view transportation as a service, not just a collection of physical assets to be managed (or mismanaged). 

Finally, we need to focus on what will work – right now. Twenty year plans are important and necessary. They can also be an excuse to do nothing today. Our recommendations, therefore, deal with today and the immediate future.

Year One
1. Improve incident management (roadside assistance/hook & haul, anti-rubbernecking education programs, etc.) 

2. Expedite the purchasing process for the 300+ new rail cars financed by the state earlier this year. Include key amenities, like wireless internet access, in car design.

3. Accelerate the implementation of the updated “bottleneck study,” first completed in the late 1980’s, to seize immediate opportunities for safety improvements and congestion reduction.  Phases One and Two should be combined. (The one completed I-95 project identified in the original study, “new exit 8,” is estimated to reduce the rush hour trip to midtown Stamford by 5-7 minutes.  Examples of high value eastbound projects are entrances 7&8 and exits 14 & 15.)

4. Divert rush hour users to other modes and times.
a. Expand incentives for ridesharing, van pooling, telecommuting, flexible schedules.
b. Increase safety enforcement for all vehicles to reduce incidents – and delays.

5. Improve real time customer information systems. (web-based information services, more effective low power radio, electronic signage, cell phone service in current corridor black holes, etc.)

Years 2-5

1. Launch construction on the bottleneck elimination and auxilliary (entrance/exit) lane program on I-95 and the Merritt Parkway. 

2. Expand customer choices:

We can’t afford not to.
Connecticut has benefited from Fairfield County’s proximity to New York City and its access to the global market place.  However, the failure to invest in internal mobility and external connectivity puts the entire state at risk. This year’s investment plan is a vitally important first step. Sustaining this investment through implementation of the full TSB set of recommendations – including its funding ideas – would be an exceptional investment in our competitive future. If we continue to fail, we will indeed become the economic “cul de sac" that the Connecticut Regional Institute’s “Gallis Report” warned of five years ago. The choice is ours.