An ongoing surge in state borrowing to rebuild Connecticut’s aging transportation infrastructure must be rolled back, Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration projects, because of stagnant fuel and sales tax revenues.

But business leaders and a key legislator insist Connecticut has other options to maintain expanded financing for highway, bridge and rail upgrades, including scaling back one of the governor’s favorite programs: an aggressive effort to pay down pension debt.

And while Lamont downplayed the revenue challenges last week, saying the impact wouldn’t be felt for several more years, his budget staff projected borrowing levels to be reduced starting in the next fiscal year, which begins July 1.

Just 12 months after the Lamont administration reported that Connecticut was ready to increase a key element of its transportation construction budget by 40%, from $1 billion to $1.4 billion, by 2028, a new forecast held that three-quarters of that planned growth is unaffordable under the current system.

That $400 million in new borrowing anticipated for the 2026-27 and 2027-28 fiscal years should be stalled, according to recommendations in the Fiscal Accountability Report issued Nov. 20 by the Office of Policy and Management, Lamont’s chief budget and planning agency.

Reversing plans to invest hundreds of millions in infrastructure work will have a chilling effect on industry hiring plans, said Donald Shubert, president of the Connecticut Construction Industry Association.

“The minute they see any kind of uncertainty, or the minute they get any clue things are slowing down, they pull back,” Shubert told the Connecticut Mirror. “We pull back and that slows the economic activity or the economic benefits — immediately.”

The Connecticut Business and Industry Association’s vice president for public policy, Chris Davis, said that “any business that’s on the fence” about hiring or otherwise expanding, “they need that [state funding] stability to make those types of investments.”

About 1,700 people participated in the Blue Back Mitten Run in West Hartford on Sunday morning.

“I love this race,” said Bruce Pfalzgraf. “There’s a lot of people, a lot of enthusiasm, and it’s a great finish.”

The Hartford Marathon Foundation hosted the sold-out race, which featured people decked out in holiday themed costumes and wearing mittens.

“It’s warmer than we thought,” said Patty O’Brian. “I thought it was going to be a lot colder, so this is great.”

The race also worked as a clothing drive, with organizers collecting new hats, gloves and other clothing items. Those items will go to West Hartford’s The Town That Cares program, which is helping people keep warm during the winter months.

“It’s an easy drop, just drop a couple mittens or drop a couple of hats and gather stuff,” O’Brian said.

Girls on the Run had about 400 runners participating in the event. The organization encourages girls to run.

“During the wintertime, it’s the best time to stay active,” said board chair Lindsay Reiff. “That’s when the seasonal depression kind of starts to set it.”

Mostly clear tonight with temps falling into low 20s by the morning.

Mostly cloudy skies are expected Sunday afternoon with temps returning to the upper 30s to near 40.

Another cold blast into early next week–potentially colder than what we saw Friday morning. Low temperatures Monday night and into Tuesday morning will likely fall into the single digits and for some towns, closer to zero.