Upgrading Existing Rt. 6 Makes More Sense

Proposal and Savings
Reject the proposed Route 6 Expressway, which would cost federal taxpayers at least $350 million.

Background
The Route 6 Expressway is a proposed 12-mile road along a new route in eastern Connecticut. The project began as an interstate highway connecting Hartford, Connecticut with Providence, Rhode Island. Rhode Island canceled its section of the road after an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) showed that the highway would cut through Scituate Reservoir, the source of most of the state’s drinking water. Connecticut, having started construction, decided to connect the two completed sections.

Status
In 1989, the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) denied the state a construction permit because of environmental impacts and the state’s failure to evaluate alternatives. The state then proposed "Alternative 133A," which was essentially the same route previously rejected by the Corps and opposed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). In July 1998, the Corps rejected the Connecticut Department of Transportation’s (ConnDOT) Alternative 133A, saying it would damage sensitive resources. Alternate proposals are now being considered.

Problems with the Project

Taxpayer Concerns
Taxpayers should not have to pay $350 million for a project that is unnecessary. For less than half the price of the proposed expressway, upgrades and minor changes on the existing route could adequately address safety concerns and handle expected traffic volumes.

Local Community Concerns
The proposed expressway does not adequately address the safety problems along the existing Route 6. Connecticut’s Manchester Journal Inquirer has editorialized, "Why not improve and widen the road that now exists and beef up law enforcement?" The Connecticut Fund for the Environment, Citizens for a Sensible Six, Sierra Club, Town of Coventry and others presented to the Corps a preliminary design for an upgrade alternative of the existing Route 6. A qualified engineering firm provided the design.

Environmental concerns
Even the most benign alignment contemplated by ConnDOT would fill over 50 acres of wetlands, bisect 167 acres of connected forest blocks, cross two major rivers, and generally destroy the character of the area.In 1995, the EPA stated that "an upgrade of the existing Route 6 would meet both safety and efficiency while causing significantly less environmental damage than any of the freeway alternatives under consideration."

Contacts
Karyl Lee Hall, Connecticut Fund for the Environment, (203) 787-0646; Mike Williams, Citizens for a Sensible Six, (860) 742-5650; Matt O’Brien, Coventry Town Council, (860) 742-1555.

Super 7 Expressway
Southwestern Connecticut
1.12 billion

Road Justified by Inflated Traffic Projections

Proposal and savings
Deny funding for the proposed Super 7 Expressway. Project costs are $1.4 billion — 80 percent federally funded.

Background
For four decades, the Connecticut Department of Transportation (ConnDOT) has been aggressively pushing for the completion of Super 7, a 19.2-mile long expressway. This expressway would be built on land covering almost 1,000 acres that the state purchased for this project. Since completion of the first 1.2-mile segment in 1971, the Super 7 project has experienced numerous delays due to lawsuits, funding problems, and an incomplete Environmental Impact Statement. The project was halted at one point when the Army Corps of Engineers determined that the State was disregarding environmental standards by moving heavy equipment into sensitive wetlands.

Status
In spite of the feasibility of widening the existing road and upgrading service on the Danbury Rail Road Line that parallels Route 7, the state is still determined to build the next segment of the expressway.

Problems with the Project

Taxpayer Concerns
The state has rationalized the need for the expressway based upon traffic projections that have been proven to be seriously flawed, and has inflated its numbers by more than 250 percent. Spending $1.4 billion on the project is excessive when more cost-effective alternatives exist, such as expanding the Danbury Rail Road Line to serve intra-state travel or upgrading the current Route 7.

Local Community Concerns
Connecticut’s greatest traffic volume and congestion is on highways running east-west. Super 7 will have minimal impact on congestion since it runs north-south. Residents of Wilton, Ridgefield, and Redding are concerned that Super 7 will impact the quality and quantity of water in their wells, and that it will decrease the use of the Danbury Rail Road Line.

Environmental Concerns
Super 7’s construction will result in the destruction of more than 64 acres of wetlands and endanger four major aquifers that serve as the region’s water source. The highway will also cut through the habitat of a wide array of birds. The open wet meadows that construction would disturb are of high quality and contain uncommon wetland species such as orchids and gentians. They also provide a home to invertebrates such as sponges, snails, butterflies, moths, mayflies, ground beetles, tiger beetles, and spongilla flies. Barred owls and wood turtles would also be effected.

Contacts
John Hickey, Citizens for a Sensible 7, (203) 762-3580; James Snedeker, Citizens for a Sensible 7, (609) 243-5713, jsnedeker@amre.com .