Actually, Chris Perone-D NOrwalk, probably wonders about more than the math skills of the CT DOT, but in this case he is concerned about how the CT DOT managed to miss the mark, by more than 100%, on how much it would cost to maintain and repair rail cars. Now let’s think about the timeline for a minute. The rail cars were something that the Governor authorized in 2004. It’s now 2007. The CT DOT is saying it will take $628 million, not $300 million to:

… help maintain 380 New Haven Line rail cars; house storage space for 100 additional cars; a heavy-duty repair shop and car
wash; and offices for employees of DOT and Metro North — would cost $300 million. That figure was factored into Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s $1.2 billion transportation initiative, approved by the legislature two years ago.

Last week, DOT officials announced that the cost of the maintenance facility was closer to $628 million.

In a letter written to Legislative Transportation Committee heads Tony Guerrera, D-Rocky Hill, and Senator Donald DeFronzo, D-New Britain, Perone asked them to investigate how the cost of the maintenance facility was so “grossly underestimated.”

That letter is here:

910-perone-letter-to-transporation.pdf

Grossly underestimate is a kind way of saying that the DOT lied, which is the only possible interpretation I have. They lied, not in 2005 when they projected the costs, they are lying now, post I-84 fiasco, post greater scrutiny on how they boondoggle millions into the pockets of sub contractors. The reality is that the CT DOT can’t be trusted with anything, and that the management layers there are rife with incompetent hacks who have no engineering background and thus no basis to actually determine if budgets even contain the items required to complete jobs. Jobs like maintaining 380 rail cars, which are replacing how many existing cars?

Perone is on the right track to question, but don’t stop off in NEw Haven here. Ride the rack right to the Governor’s office and demand that no money gets sent until a financial forensic audit of all DOT projects commences and management gets fired for lapses and irregular accounting. That should shake things up a bit in DOT land.

“The successful completion of this rail car station is essential to the economic health of our state,” said Rep. Perone in a press release. “This maintenance facility was going to be a cornerstone in the state’s plan to purchase new rail cars. With more delays on construction we run the risk of keeping aged and potentially dangerous cars on the tracts for much too long.”

Right-on. THe economic future of COnnecticut is dependent on transportation infrastructure, something that the current DOT has been unable to implement in decades. Enough is enough.

source: Perone calls for DOT rail car investigation, by Jill Bodach, September 11, 2007