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State Senator Toni Boucher (R-26), along with First
Selectmen Bill Brennan ( Wilton), Rudy Marconi (Ridgefield),
Natalie Ketcham ( Redding), State Representatives John
Hetherington (R-125) and Peggy Reeves (D-143), and HVCEO
Executive Director Jon Chew, held a press conference
at Wilton Town Hall today to discuss Route 7. Also,
they were joined by Town Planner Bob Nerney, AICP, and
Pat Sesto, Director of Environmental Affairs. Former
State Senator Judith G. Freedman of the 26th District
who, along with former State Representative Barbara
Ireland of Ridgefield, opposed the Super 7 project beginning
in the 1980s, stated that “it is time to move
forward not backwards.” Please see highlights
of remarks by other press conference participants at
the end.
Senator Boucher made the following remarks at the
press conference:
Thank you for joining us today to discuss a major issue
for our communities and our region.
The Route 7 corridor is a vital transportation artery
for western Connecticut. Because of its strategic importance
for moving people and goods through a region that is
a key economic engine for the state, the definitive
plan for its development has left no stone unturned.
It is founded on the careful consideration of numerous
factors, including environmental conditions and regulations,
funding requirements and availability, and the concerns
of local residents. Significant investments have been
made in implementing the plan, which includes upgrading
the Danbury branch line and expansion of the existing
Route 7 that is now well underway and close to completion.
The transportation plan for the Route 7 corridor is
based on solid, quantifiable realities. Recent speculation
about altering this plan to include construction of
a super highway does not take those realities into account
and therefore may be misleading to the public. We must
set the record straight.
Transportation issues surrounding the Route 7 corridor
have been hotly debated off and on for over five decades.
The original solution to the growing traffic congestion
in our region was to build a super “truck”
highway similar to I-95 along Route 123 through the
Town of New Canaan. This proposal was soundly defeated
by the residents over 50 years ago. An alternative route
was later proposed north of the City of Norwalk, through
the middle of Wilton and in parts of Ridgefield, Redding,
and Danbury. Over the decades, and through long and
oftentimes bitter opposition from these communities,
a super highway design was abandoned. The Housatonic
Planning Agency (MPO for the Danbury region) removed
this proposed highway from its long-term plans and replaced
it with train, other transit options, and a widening
project.
It was widely recognized that the costs of a new highway
vastly outweighed the benefits. Over the last 50 years,
new highway grading guidelines would have placed this
proposed highway nearly 120 feet in the air. In addition,
new environmental regulations would not allow the project
to pass a required federal environmental impact study.
Dozens of local, state and national environmental groups
took official positions and testified against this proposal
during the 1999 state Department of Transportation (DOT)
official public hearings to expand it two miles north
of the current terminus. There were anywhere from 500
to 600 local citizens at each meeting, speaking out
ten-to-one against a highway. Democratic and Republican
town committees, local planning and zoning and inland
wetlands committees also spoke against the proposal.
DOT and public officials received over 1,000 petitions,
letters and e-mails from citizens who were strongly
opposed to a Super 7 Highway. In 2007, the legislature’s
Transposition Committee held a public hearing on a bill
to resurrect this highway that was proposed by a Norwalk
elected official. The bill was not even brought to vote
due to the overwhelming testimony offered by residents,
elected officials, scientists and environmentalists
who opposed it.
The residents of our region had rejected plans for a
Super highway for over five decades, most recently in
1999, 2007 and 2009, through great effort and countless
public hearings. The difficult and dangerous topography
of the area and new federal guidelines for highway grades
have made any proposed superhighway in this location
so costly as to render it untenable. As a result, a
compromise agreement, to which I was a party, was reached
to widen the existing Route 7 roadway in 1999. It was
decided that a widening project would be the more cost
effective, least environmentally damaging and most effective
alternative.
Those who suggest that building a superhighway along
the Route 7 corridor fail to see the negative impact
such a project would have on the economies of these
towns. One only needs to look at the freeways in Southern
California to see that more roads do not equal an improved
transportation system. Currently, Route 7 is being expanded
from two lanes to four in many areas along the same
Danbury-Norwalk corridor. This widening should be completed
throughout the entire Route 7 corridor. Concurrently,
we should be developing our train system along that
same corridor to bring about the economic benefits of
rapid transportation without the damage to the environment
of our towns that highway construction brings.
In summary, the issue of a Super 7 Highway from Norwalk
to the Danbury line is a 50 year old controversy that
has been shelved by the state for the foreseeable future
due to the following reasons.
Environmental & Health Issues:
• It is home to one of
the largest wetlands in our state that cannot be mitigated.
• A positive federally
mandated environment impact statement is required; it
would never be granted.
• State environmental permits
would not be granted due to new wetlands regulations.
• A National Park is now
located along the originally proposed route.
• Wetlands along the route
serve as habitats for rare species.
• Opposed by all environmental
organizations in Connecticut.
• Contrary to smart-growth
principles; Super 7 would move people further from work,
create new traffic congestion and pollution. An additional
30 % increase in traffic onto to I-95 and Route 15
• Latest science regarding
air and ground pollution show Super 7 would have harmful
health effects.
Cost Issues:
• 40% of the land needed
for building Super 7 is not currently owned by the state.
• New federal highway grading
requirements and regulations would require it to be
elevated in most places; cost of building a 20-mile,
100- foot-high fly over highway would be several billions
of dollars, assuming necessary permits could ever be
obtained.
• Municipal government
leaders would fight Super 7 in court at great cost to
the state.
• Towns have already invested
in widening the existing Route 7.
• State government should
continue to focus scarce resources on feasible projects
that have support, such as further widening, rails and
trails.
Multiple Town Opposition:
• Previous efforts to
build Super 7 were killed when local citizens took their
opposition to court; today, environment groups and local
governments, including Ridgefield, Redding, Wilton,
and parts of many surrounding towns, would keep future
proposals to build Super 7 in the courts for decades.
• The Housatonic Valley
Council of Elected Officials (HVCEO) has taken Super
7 out its plans and are concentrating their efforts
on rails and other improvements.
• Governor Rell, affected
municipalities, DOT and DEP oppose a Super 7 Highway.
• Local opposition stronger
than ever after 50 years; Republican and Democrats in
the towns affected oppose Super 7.
• The Legislator who is
lobbying for this does not represent the towns affected
by his proposal; it would be like us proposing to shut
down exit 14 in Norwalk or widening I -95 or Route 15
in Greenwich or Darien without the approval of the citizens
and elected officials who would be affected.
To get anything done, you have to make a plan and
stick to it. The chief elected officials have done just
that. They have worked hard for years to get DOT to
improve this major transportation corridor. After a
decades-long court case that stopped any further talk
of a Super 7 dead in it tracks and countless public
hearings that I personally attended, a compromise plan
was adopted. It took 10 years to get the compromise
plan to widen the road and fix the trains off the ground.
It was not until the arrival of Governor M. Jodi Rell
and our new DOT Commissioner Joseph Marie, who heard
our persistent requests for action, that both projects
finally started to move forward. The widening through
Wilton is now nearly complete. The resolution to this
50 year old controversy- widening that road, and fixing
our trains- was founded on a grasp of reality. And that's
exactly what we're doing. Widening the road and planning
for future widening in a cost effective, environmentally
sensitive manner to connect Norwalk to Danbury. And,
the federal government is spending $30 million to improve
our rail line.
As I just stated, other plans and regulations have
made a Super 7 impossible to build in this location
- and people, real people, don't want it. We believe
that a recently conducted survey is an attempt to create
a false impression and is misleading. But today we are
here for a reality check- and to set the record straight.
In Conclusion:
Look to the future. Everyone's goal
here is to get cars off the roads, not to get more roads
for the cars, and Super 7 flies in the face of that
goal.
Keep Fairfield County moving. We have
invested a great deal in widening the current road way.
We will need to continue to widen all of existing Route
7 through Wilton Ridgefield, Danbury and parts north
of 84. We need to concentrate on fixing I-95.
Mass transit is the future. Money
is needed for rail stations, maintenance facility and
light rail in Stamford, along with parking and station
improvements. After a decades-long lobbying effort,
we are finally making headway with a $30-million investment
in the Norwalk to Danbury Branch Line by the federal
government. And, we have created a working group to
consider a bike and pedestrian greenway.
Preserving the character of our area is more
than a matter of simple aesthetics. Many people
have moved to Fairfield County in recent years because
we can offer the community of small towns with the accessibility
of larger cities. When residents and businesses oppose
the building of Super 7, they wish to preserve that
character and keep the economic revitalization of the
region from falling apart. Our greatest asset in this
state is the education and entrepreneurial spirit of
our residents. Improving economic conditions statewide
starts with putting the focus on how we live and work
each day.
So what can be done? In addition to
the compromise agreement between the DOT and our region
to expand the current roadway from a two-lane to a four-lane
road, we have a tremendous untapped underutilized resource
right under our very nose: the Norwalk to Danbury train
line.
The economic boon to the region that this rail line
could provide is clear. In recent years, there has been
a rapid growth in business offices and residential complexes
along this line. The key to this growth is accessibility.
As residents of the area are able to move between work
and home with greater ease, it encourages a highly skilled
workforce to remain in Connecticut. This growth is not
just limited to our cities. The Town of Redding is hoping
that a new town center can be created along this line,
with the hope of adding a new train stop. Commercial
interests will expand along with the population. This
section of rail traffic is among the busiest in the
Tri-State area. Governor Rell and the state of Connecticut
recognize this, having already approved a $1.3 billion
program to upgrade and expand service on the main line
and a $30 million federal grant for CTC. Improving the
transportation system in Connecticut gives our state
the edge that makes our communities so attractive -
more passenger cars making more stops at more locations
is a major factor to fueling the economic growth of
Fairfield County. Above all, the infrastructure of the
region must serve our greatest asset: the people who
live here.
Those of us here today find it is very disappointing
that some continually try to resurrect the long dead
issue of a Super 7 highway. Some even think that this
unrealistic and outlandish notion is humorous. But,
there is little to laugh about, and there is little
that can be accomplished by this futile exercise other
than to disrupt families, children and seniors who are
trying to live in peace. Instead, they are worried,
frightened - even terrified - every six months by the
insensitive, irresponsible actions of some. To those
that persist in threatening the stability of our neighbors
and neighborhoods, we say leave these good families
and taxpayers alone. Let them live in the peace they
have earned after 50 years of threats of upheaval. They
have enough to worry about in these trying and taxing
times.
There are many here today, with decades-long experience
and involvement with this issue. They have worked extremely
hard on this issue, they have put in countless hours
attending public hearings and testifying on behalf of
the towns and residents affected by it, and have worked
closely with the DOT in completing the plans put in
place as a result of those hearings to move this roadway
forward. You will hear from representatives, officials
and experts who will elaborate further.
Highlights Of Remarks Made By Press Conference
Participants
HVCEO Executive Director Jonathan Chew stated
at the press conference that his organization does not
support the building of a Super 7 Highway. Members are
focusing their attention and resources on improvements
to I-84, train system, mass transit and smart growth
initiatives. He also stated that their reports show
that if the highway were built, it would dump 30% more
traffic on I-95 and the Merritt Parkway, which could
not be absorbed. In addition, the current widening of
Route 7 between Danbury and Ridgefield would preclude
using that land for any other roadway. HVCEO represents
two-thirds of the affected area.
Gail Lavielle, Commissioner, Connecticut Public
Transportation Commissioner:
“There is always room in public debate for opposing
viewpoints, supported by facts and logic. There is,
however, never a place for groundless assertions, or
for claims based on studies that were not designed to
support them. But in politically charged and sensitive
environments, event eh vaguest and least substantiated
of messages can raise doubts among us about the most
well established and widely accepted of situations.
I am afraid this is what happened last month when Senator
Bob Duff released the results of his survey on public
opinion about building a Super 7 expressway. That the
survey was inadequate to its purpose was one thing.
But, far more disturbing is the fact that it has misled
the public and worried and frightened many people who
had been reassured that the threat of having their lives
disrupted by an expressway had disappeared.
Wilton First Selectman William Brennan:
“With all due respect, why are we wasting our
time on this extremely costly and unaffordable proposal?
Let’s be realistic. The federal government is
trillions of dollars in debt and it is unrealistic to
believe there are available funds for this very expensive
and environmentally damaging highway . . . Once again,
I suggest we listen to the people. For almost 40 years,
this road has been discussed, but never constructed.
Why? The people most impacted have strongly opposed
it. They do not want it and efforts to resuscitate interest
have been repeatedly defeated. On several occasions,
Senator Duff has taken this 1960s road concept to the
state Transportation Committee and each time it failed,
the last time in 2007 when the committee did not even
vote on the proposal.”
Ridgefield First Selectman Rudy Marconi:
“This area has been working to upgrade its trains
for decades. We cannot allow this long defeated and
outmoded proposal to take our valuable time and resources
away from our stated purpose. There is no support for
it in my area and it is now time to move on to better
solutions to our transportation infrastructure needs.”
Redding First Selectman Natalie Ketcham:
“For the past thirty years, the Town of Redding
has expressed grave concern over the ramifications of
the construction of a Super 7 highway through the towns
of Wilton, Redding, Ridgefield and Danbury. The purpose
of my presence here today is to confirm, for the record,
that our position remains unchanged: we are adamantly
opposed to its construction. Our Town Plan of Conservation
and Development in 1998 specifically called for the
town to “continue to support local efforts to
abandon plans for Super 7”. We did, and we thought
those plans had, very rightly, been abandoned . . .
In addition, the Housatonic Valley Council of Elected
Officials Regional Transportation Plan opposes Super
7 and supports the widening of the existing highway.
There is not the political will in our ten town regional
planning agency to alter that position.”
Paul Najarian, Wilton:
“I am writing again to express our complete opposition
to the proposed Super 7. I am outraged that we continue
to waste valuable time and money on this terrible idea.
The matter has been settled and our elected officials
and community at large need to move on and spend time
and money more constructively.
Remarks by Gail
Lavielle
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