The state of Connecticut has been found eligible by the U.S. Department of Transportation to compete for a newly available $7 million set aside to expand the New London to Orient Point ferry route to carry freight to get commercial traffic off of roadways between New York and Connecticut.
The marine highway corridor is one of eight projects and six initiatives selected by the U.S. DOT to be eligible for the assistance.
“These projects will help make better use of America’s Marine Highway by reducing gridlock, improving the environment, and putting skilled mariners and shipbuilders to work,” said David Matsuda, Maritime Administrator for the U.S. DOT.
Aside: Getting a freight barge program going definitely seems a more feasible(less costly) mid-term goal than reviving long moribund rail freight corridors. Those corridors will probably take many more billions to significantly rebalance the country’s truck to train freight ratio.
Elsewhere, Gov. M. Jodi Rell rescheduled the State Bond Commission’s meeting Wednesday which included nearly $500 million in railroad-related bonding projects announced last month.
Rell has asked the State B0nd Commission to authorize borrowing $260 million towards the $880 million venture to double track a rail line New Haven to Hartford to Springfield rail line, which would permit trains to potentially thunder along between 90 to 110 miles per hour in that corridor. (I prefer a more leisurely ride)
The DOT has also made an additional request for $220 million to the Federal Railroad Administration towards that project.
A second request would appropriate $226 million to act on an existing option to buy an additional 80 rail cars from Kawasaki Rail Corp.
The state has already authorized spending for 300 of the new cars to replace the New Haven line’s M-2 and M-4 rail cars.
