This morning, WNPR’s “Where We Live” covered one of the most important opportunities for Hartford in the next decade: the redesign of Hartford’s I-84 viaduct. I called in to the show to discuss the potential economic benefits of this redesign, and also talked this week with engineers (see photos) about the options the State and Federal government are envisioning. With careful planning, the land around the viaduct could be open to development, generating revenue for the city and boosting economic activity. This is a critical opportunity for Hartford.
When we’re talking about costly projects like sinking or tunneling I-84, it’s easy to focus on the up-front cost and discount the future returns. But we’ve got to keep in mind the enormous economic benefits that the I-84 viaduct redesign could bring to Hartford.
Check out what I had to say to WNPR by listening in here:
And here’s a transcript: “This is a critical opportunity for the city. In a city where half of the property is not taxable, and we struggle year after year, we’ve got to focus on the economic benefits of opening up this land for potential development and healing the wounds that we’ve lived with for so many years in Hartford.
“And so I think as we talk about these numbers of dropping the highway down… For a lot of people they seem like very high numbers - dollars it’s going to cost - we’ve got to think about the enormous economic benefits to the City of Hartford if we do that.”
You can listen to the whole show here: https://wnpr.org/post/what-should-we-do-viaduct-through-hartford