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Congressional Candidate Debicella Takes On Transportation Woes

FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- Fairfield County residents are familiar with the hassles of traveling on I-95 and Metro-North, but Congressional candidate Dan Debicella said he wants to make transportation a priority if he is elected.

Republican Congressional candidate Dan Debicella discusses some of his proposals to fix Fairfield County's transportation issues in an interview with the Daily Voice.

Photo Credit: Casey Donahue

Debicella is a Republican former state senator and businessman who is challenging Democratic incumbent Jim Himes to represent Connecticut's Fourth District in the U.S. House of Representatives. In an interview with the Daily Voice, he said transportation, along with healthcare and the economy, are the three biggest issues for Connecticut voters in this year's election.

"When it comes to transportation, Fairfield County is a mess, whether it’s on I-95, the Merritt or Metro-North. And I just don’t think anyone has solved this problem, and there’s not a Republican or Democratic way to do it," Debicella said.

Drivers start and stop to get on and off the highway at busy exits, causing a wave effect that backs up traffic for miles along Connecticut's highways, he said. But he believes that by investing in the state's roads, some of the traffic problems could be alleviated.

"You can’t expand the entire Merritt Parkway because of the bridges, but what you can do is you can put in new entrance or exit ramps to actually allow a smoother flow of traffic," he said.

He pointed to similar work accomplished at the Sikorsky Bridge between Stratford and Milford while he was a state senator.

"There is no longer any traffic there, because people just get on an off very easily. And so we need to do that all along the Merritt and 95," Debicella said.

Addressing problems with Metro-North, he criticized plans such as Gov. Dannel Malloy's proposal for a new train station in Bridgeport.

"I think that’s the exact wrong thing to do. We need to be investing more money in maintenance. And it’s not a very exciting thing, but it makes the trains run on time," Debicella said.

When Himes was first elected, he vowed to be on the House Transportation Committee, Debicella said, but he failed to live up to that promise. Debicella said if elected he would try to get on the Transportation Committee to help secure funding to fix Connecticut's transportation issues.

"By being there you can actually get, not only the financial resources you need to do this, but the expertise as well. Other states have faced exactly what we face. And taking the best ideas from around the country, and backing that up with funding will actually enable us to solve some of these problems," he said.

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