The June 30th deadline for re-authorization of a federal transportation bill is rapidly approaching, leaving Congress scrambling to reach an agreement.  June 30th is the last day money will be authorized to be taken from the Highway Trust Fund, which is the main source of federal transportation aid to states.  Without approval of a transportation bill, Congress will be forced to enact a series of short term 90 day extensions.

 If Congress doesn’t act by June 30th, how will this impact Connecticut? Projects that are already funded such as the Q Bridge, the Moses Wheeler Bridge, and the CTFastrak (New Britain-Hartford Busway) are not in any real danger. It is the future of Connecticut’s transportation projects that could be in jeopardy. As Judd Everhart, a spokesperson for the Connecticut DOT told The CT Mirror on June 8th ,“Our ability to plan for and design major projects [will be] severely impacted”. 

Passage of a long term transportation bill has the potential to put thousands, if not millions, of construction workers back to
work. Congress is feeling the crunch as the June 30th deadline is right around the corner. Let’s hope that an agreement will be made before the deadline passes.


For further information, please click here.