Monday, April 6, 2020

A Pause That Makes Sense: A Common Council Resolution

I want to acknowledge how hard it is to turn our attention away from the virus crisis - I truly hope that all of you are as safe and well as you can be under the circumstances.  We are all proud of Middletown for the way that we come together as a community, even as we are each caring for our families, our co-workers, our neighbors and ourselves.  

Unfortunately, the issue of the state's planned construction on Main Street and downtown has not resolved. 

You may know that back on March 10th, Mayor Florsheim arranged for a public meeting with the CT Dept. of Transportation, which was limited to just 50 people at Macdonough School and others online.  Many important concerns were raised; the planned work will harm pedestrians, businesses and residents, just to make it easier for cars to move through town.  It has been roundly rejected by locals at every opportunity.

However, without any regard for this public input, the DOT has instead decided to accelerate their planned construction on Rapallo Avenue, Spring Street and Main Street in the next few weeks.  

Our Common Council - amidst all of their other worries at this time - has bravely decided to adopt a resolution at tonight's meeting to ask the CT Dept. of Transportation to pause their work in downtown (while continuing the work on the bridge) until further review and consideration is given.  I am hoping that all of us can take a moment to encourage them in this step - they need to know that they have our support.  

Please email mayor@middletownct.gov and ask that he and the Common Council continue to fight for fair consideration of Middletown's concerns.  This support from us needs to continue past this evening's council meeting, so please let the Mayor know of your support even if it is not sent today.  If you would like to watch the council meeting by online or listen by telephone, follow the directions listed at this post.  

Thank you.

2 comments:

Lady Cyclist (Beth Emery) said...

FYI, For me it was not intuitively obvious. From the cities web site main page if you click on Agenda's and meeting; it opens to a list of everything; scroll down and down, when you get to the Green Buttons across the page (some might be red); Click on Community Videos; there you will find the agenda,and more info on logging into meeting.

cybermom said...

DOT plans for Middletown are not to the benefit of our city, they benefit people who travel through the city. DOT need to pause and listen to city residents. Slipping a bad plan through because of the virus is a great idea for DOT but not for Middletown.