18-02-2025
Osten backing economic study of area served by Mohegan-Pequot Bridge
State Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, has said she will continue to advocate for a bill calling for an economic study of the area surrounding the Mohegan-Pequot Bridge despite the public-hearing testimony of two state commissioners who suggested last week that a pending transportation study should come first.
Daniel O'Keefe and Garrett Eucalitto, commissioners of the Departments of Economic and Community Development and Transportation, respectively, told the legislature's Transportation Committee that the DOT is embarking on a 'transportation corridor study' in the same geographic region described in Senate Bill 1081.
'DECD would encourage the committee to await the results of that (DOT) study to inform decision making around the Mohegan-Pequot Bridge capacity,' O'Keefe wrote in testimony filed in connection with the Feb. 10 public hearing.
'I'm not willing to stop the bill from moving forward,' Osten, a Transportation Committee member, said Monday. 'They're hiring consultants to look at economics and traffic projects. My intent is to still have that bill come out of committee to make sure it (an economic study) happens. ... Let's make sure it happens.'
The bill's 10 co-sponsors include Osten and eight other members of the southeastern Connecticut delegation.
It would require O'Keefe and Eucalitto to jointly conduct or commission an economic study of areas in Montville and Preston to determine whether the capacity of the Mohegan-Pequot Bridge adequately serves them. The proposed study would assess whether the bridge 'permits the convenient, safe and expeditious flow of traffic' to the areas and the extent to which the bridge's capacity will be affected by developments on the Mashantucket Pequot reservation and elsewhere.
Great Wolf Lodge at Mashantucket, a $300 million indoor waterpark resort set to open in May adjacent to Foxwoods Resort Casino and the Mohegan Tribe's proposed Preston Riverwalk project are among those developments, as is an expansion of the Preston incinerator site.
'The area is a true asset, and it is imperative that we ensure that our infrastructure is sufficiently up to the task of dealing with the various projects and developments in the area,' Osten said in her public hearing testimony.
Senate Bill 1081 also seeks an evaluation of the impact on the Mohegan-Pequot Bridge of oversized loads that could be prohibited from traversing the Gold Star Memorial Bridge between Groton and New London. Traffic could be similarly diverted in the event of a public safety incident that caused the DOT to shut down the Gold Star, according to the bill.
Meanwhile, the DOT is planning to undertake a $32.8 million renovation of the Mohegan-Pequot Bridge. Local officials and residents have expressed opinions about the plan, with some saying the improvements to the bridge should include widening it from two to four lanes.
Such an undertaking would be six to seven times costlier than repairs, according to estimates.
