Connecticut has some of the oldest infrastructure in the nation. You can see it every day on our roads, our schools and even in our water treatment plans. But our state not only requires better roads and mass transit, it also needs good-paying jobs. The good news is that for every billion dollars in new infrastructure investment, 47,500 new jobs are also created. That means a plan to solve massive traffic problems like Interstate 95 and the Q Bridge could bring thousands of needed jobs to the region.

In the recently-enacted highway legislation, Congresswoman DeLauro secured more than $100 million in funds for Connecticut's Third District. Almost half of that money will go to the Q Bridge project, which is one of New England's largest ongoing highway construction projects. Some of this funding will go to numerous other important regional projects, including a new Intermodal center in Middletown, the widening of Route 34 in Derby, and planning for improvements to the Route 8 travel corridor. She also has secured more than $3 million in funds for the planned commuter rail station in West Haven.

But no matter how much money the Federal government spends on highways and public transportation, it will not be enough to ease the burden on commuters. And with record federal budget deficits, we can't expect Washington to pay all the bills.

The solution is to begin moving the debate beyond old ways of thinking about transportation and infrastructure funding. That is why Congresswoman DeLauro has introduced the “National Infrastructure Development Act” which would increase the money available for much-needed upgrades, by creating an innovative public-private partnership like Fannie Mae that would invest in and insure infrastructure projects. DeLauro's legislation will create a opportunity to improve our roads and bridges, while creating more than 427,000 new construction, engineering and contracting jobs across the nation.