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Stamford's two main projects on tap are to rebuild the Atlantic Street and East Main Street underpasses, which would improve traffic flow as well as train times. The city has secured $70 million in state and federal funds for the projects, each of which City Engineer Lou Casolo estimated to cost $70 million.
Murphy, who was taking his official first tour of Stamford since becoming a senator, said he knows the government needs invest in rail service in the state, especially after the recent derailment in Bridgeport and said the federal government is working on a $50 billion project to make rail improvements along the East Coast.
“They frequently get hit and have to shut down,” Laure Aubuchon, director of economic development, said of the underpasses.
Metro-North does periodic maintenance all on the bridges, Casolo said. If they were replaced, there would be fewer delays. “It’s really an impediment,” he said. The engineer also went over the federally funded upgrades to the Stamford Transportation Center for the senator.
“They’re all projects that are intertwined,” he said of the rail construction.
Mayor Michael Pavia described Stamford as a “subway stop from New York City,” with thousands going back and forth from home to work in each direction. The infrastructure has to be in place for the influx of people, Pavia told the senator.
“We’re now scrambling to keep up,” he said. Ideally, the infrastructure would have been upgraded before businesses and development took place, but that has not been the case, Pavia said.
Federal and state funding is needed to help get people in and out of Stamford because it has so much development and attracts businesses, Murphy said. Stamford is the economic backbone of the state and needs to be supported to stay that way, he said.
“You really are picking up a lot of the state’s burden,” Murphy said before leaving to tour the city with Pavia and other officials.
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