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Officials announced that they are looking to charge drivers 4.4 cents per mile during peak hours, and 3.5 cents per mile during off-peak hours, though they are still mulling their final plan.
During his speech announcing his proposed state budget, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont laid out plans for 53 potential toll-collecting gantries on I-84, I-91, I-95, the Merritt and Wilbur parkways that could bring in an estimated $800 million each year.
The plan is down from a proposed 82 gantry model proposed by the Connecticut State Department of Transportation following a study last year.
“Transportation Commissioner Joe Giulietti has been tasked with streamlining the administrative and construction costs per mile, and we will explore public-private partnerships to maximize the value from these new revenue streams,” Lamont said. “In these partnerships, I will ensure that the public side doesn’t carry the downside risk while the private investors enjoy the upside.”
The tolls would include a minimum of a 30 percent discount for Connecticut residents, the governor noted. It’s estimated that out-of-state drivers could provide over 40 percent of tolling revenue for Connecticut.
Giulietti said that the tolls are necessary to help improve infrastructure statewide.
“Simply put, Connecticut’s aging transportation infrastructure and lack of sustainable, recurring revenue in the Special Transportation Fund has hampered our ability to just maintain a state of good repair, let alone make the investments necessary to move our state’s residents and the economy,” he said. “The lack of funding to maintain our infrastructure leads to major capital costs and the need to entirely revamp systems, which is not strategically smart of a financial best practice.
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