Following a state audit, Gov. M. Jodi Rell has called for New Haven's $1.2 billion rail yard construction project to be scaled down and phased in. The project concerns an upgrade of the rail yard by Union Station.

Rell called for the audit after the project's budget ballooned from $300 million to $1.2 billion. The screw-up drew an apology from the state's budget chief and prompted one state legislator to dub it "the Next Big Dig" (Click here and here for related stories.)

The original 15-year plan would add a storage yard, upgrade support utilities and add new tracks to accommodate more trains and more riders. In an audit, Hill International, Inc. suggested deferring or eliminating parts of the project, and moving ahead with a first phase that would cost $849.3 million.

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The Transportation Strategy Board will move forward this week with a study that analyzes the impacts and benefits of putting tolls back on Connecticut's highways.

Tolls were removed from Connecticut's highways following the fatal 1983 crash at a Stratford toll booth plaza. Since then, reinstating tolls has remained a topic of debate in the state. Over the years that debate has grown louder as traffic congestion increases and federal transportation funds decrease.