Lawmakers consider Shoreline East funding, blood alcohol limits
HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — In a lengthy public hearing, the legislature's Transportation Committee heard testimony on a wide-ranging agenda of proposed bills – including ones that would lower the state's legal blood alcohol content (BAC) limit and restore funding to the Shoreline East rail line.
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Effectively lowering the amount of alcohol that can be legally consumed before driving has been a long standing goal of the Transportation Committee's co-chair, State Sen. Christine Cohen.
'People are not as safe as they could be on our highways and we want to change that,' Cohen said – highlighting last year's grim roadway fatality figures.
With Cohen and her co-chair, State Rep. Aimee Berger-Girvalo, at the helm, the Transportation Committee heard testimony in favor of the BAC change from a member of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
While many members of the public know the NTSB from their role investigating high-profile aviation disasters, the federal agency is also considered a leading authority on all types of transportation safety issues – including highway safety.
'Research suggests that lowering the legal BAC limit to .05 will reduce fatal alcohol related crashes by an estimated 11%,' Thomas B. Chapman, an NTSB board member, said.
But the efforts to lower the BAC have consistently met roadblocks in the legislature. Many legislators question the effectiveness of the measure.
'The deaths that we have had on the highway are completely unacceptable – I think there's other ways we can address it,' State Rep. Tom O'Dea, a Republican on the Transportation Committee, said. 'Going from .08 to .05 is not the answer in my humble opinion.'
Lowering the BAC limit is not the only proposal pushed by Sen. Cohen that is facing headwinds in this legislative session. She's also advocating for a restoration of funds for the Shoreline East rail line – a move that would benefit many who use the line to travel between New Haven and New London. Cohen hails from Guilford and represents a district that spans the shoreline from East Haven to Madison, where she owns and operates a small business.
'Shoreline East was the only train line where we didn't bring train schedules back to where they were pre-pandemic and its the train line that has suffered the most as a result of that,' Cohen said.
Restoring funding to pre-pandemic levels would require an increase of about $25 million, according to Cohen.
Efforts to secure funding for the rail line have brought together a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers from the region.
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State Rep. Greg Howard, a Republican representing Stonington and North Stonington, noted that the rail line helps boost tourism along the shoreline – especially since many of the region's quaint communities do not have the road and parking infrastructure to comfortably accommodate a surge of visitors.
'By restoring funding to Shoreline East, it would alleviate sort of that traffic congestion down there,' Howard said. 'It's a lot safer and will hopefully bring more people to the area, which obviously fuels the local economy but also brings revenue to the state as well.'
But O'Dea questioned the high subsidies required to keep the line running. He referenced a study that placed the subsidy around $50 per passenger, and contrasted that with another estimate that places the state subsidy for the New Canaan Branch of Metro North at just a few dollars per passenger.
His district includes New Canaan, Darien and Stamford – with many of his constituents regularly utilizing the New Canaan Branch line to commute to New York City via the New Haven mainline.
'When you're looking at a subsidy that's $45 more – per person, per direction, per ride – that's tough to justify from a financial standpoint,' O'Dea said.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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