Highway Tolls Bill Moves to State House

Legislation paving the way for implementing tolls on major Connecticut highways narrowly cleared a committee this week and is headed to the state House.
The Finance, Revenue, and Bonding Committee passed HB 5046 April 5 by a 26-25 party-line vote.
It calls for the Department of Transportation to study installing tolls on Interstates 84, 91, 95, and the Wilbur Cross and Merritt parkways.
The DOT must determine how and where tolls will be installed on those highways, and what type of discount state residents would get.
The transportation agency has estimated tolls could generate from $400 million to $600 million a year to fund long-overdue improvements to the state’s highways, roads and bridges.

Similiar Bill

The Transportation Committee passed a similar bill, HB 5391, on March 22.
That bill calls for DOT to conduct an environmental study, consider where overhead gantries would be located on those highways, and how much revenue tolls would raise.
Under HB 5391, the DOT then submits a report to the legislature in the 2019 session. If the House and Senate fail to act within 30 days of receiving the report, tolls would be deemed approved.
HB 5391 also includes a provision to bolster the state’s troubled Special Transportation Fund, accelerating by two years a plan dedicating 0.5% of the sales tax on new cars to the STF.
It also waits House action.

For more information, contact CBIA’s John Blair (860.280.4059).