NEW HAVEN--Connecticut residents spend an average of 42 hours a year driving on the state's aging roadways.
But Gov. Dan Malloy dedicate a lot of money to his 30-year transportation plan to change that.
"If we take the steps that are necessary to have a first in class transportation system, we can have a very large impact,," he told Fox CT during an exclusive one-on-one interview in New Haven on Friday.
Our economy is suffering $4.2 billion thanks to the hours we spend in cars instead of being productive, but it's going to cost a lot to fix: the governor's transportation plan comes with a $100 billion price tag, and some people think that's too much.
In recent weeks the governor announced an additional $102 million in cuts to the two-year, $40.3 billion state budget that was approved by the state Legislature in June. Many are angry with where the money is being cut from, and some say it should be coming out of the transportation budget.
When he talked about facing push back, he was referring to a recent press conference in which Democratic state Rep. Cathy Abercrombie spoke out about the cuts that will be made to social services.
"I think one of the areas we have to look at is transportation. We put a lot of money in there," the representative for Berlin and Meriden said.
But not everyone's against it. Republicans are in a rare move siding with the governor on the issue, and agree that a so-called "lockbox" bill, which would prohibit transportation revenues from being spent on anything but transportation projects, is badly needed. Much of that revenue will come from the approved measure that sets aside one half of one percent of the state's 6.35 percent sales tax to dedicate to transportation.
Malloy will need the Republicans to stick by him on the issue if he wants his plan to work. The governor intends to put the lockbox measure on the 2016 ballot so that voters can decide.
"Presidential election, highest turnout--let the people of Connecticut decide if they want a lockbox," Malloy said.
