Public Hearings on Route 9, other DOT Projects Tuesday

The state Department of Transportation will hold two hearings on Tuesday July 11 at DOT headquarters in Newington to solicit public input on projects including a proposal to eliminate traffic lights on Route 9 in Middletown.

Governor Malloy and DOT officials announced plans for eliminating the lights and re-configuring traffic flow on Main Street and Route 9/Route 66 last summer, and held a local public hearing a few days later. (Full video of the hearing: click here.  Eye article here.)

Tuesday's hearings (one at 1pm, the second at 7pm) will address the DOT's "Statewide Transportation Improvement Plan" for the next four years which includes major projects such as Route 9, work on New London's Gold Star Bridge and other bridges throughout the state, the I-91/CT15 interchange in Hartford, statewide bus replacements, New Haven Line track replacement, and the Waterbury 'mixmaster'.

The extensive list in the plan document also includes line items for "MAT - ADMIN CAPITAL/SUPPORT EQUIP/SCV PROGRAM" for the next 4 fiscal years, a reference to the Middletown Area Transit bus service, which has been making headlines due to proposed route cuts and a financial crisis. ConnDOT is reportedly trying to assess and manage MAT's problems.

Public comment on the plan is open until the end of the month. If you can't attend one of the hearings, you can submit written comments to:

Mrs. Maribeth Wojenski

Transportation Assistant Planning Director

Bureau of Policy and Planning

Connecticut Department of Transportation

P.O. Box 317546

Newington, CT  06131-7546

Washington Street Delays Expected

From the State DOT

Revised Operations Plan for Route 66 Intersection and Drainage

The Department of Transportation announced today that beginning Monday, August 24, 2009, operations will be altered for work associated with the reconstruction of Route 66 (Washington Street) between the streets of Bernie O’Rourke Drive and Plaza Drive in the city of Middletown [this is between the Walgreens and the Foodmart]. Route 66, (Washington Street), may be reduced to one lane in each direction between the hours of 6:00 am and 2:30 pm. This change in operations is to allow ample time for construction operations while maintaining existing roadway conditions for the evening rush hour.

Work on Route 66 will continue through the 2009 -2010 construction seasons and extend into the Spring of 2011.

The anticipated completion date for the reconstruction of Route 66 is April 25, 2011. This $4,005,989 project was awarded on May 26, 2009 to Simscroft – Echo Farms, Inc. of Simsbury, CT.

Motorists are urged to obey the posted speed limit and precede with caution through this and all other construction work zones. Schedules may change due to weather conditions.

A gentleman on 66

On Route 66, across the street from Palmer Field, is one of Middletown's treasures, Larry's service station. Its owner and proprietor Larry Trotta has been helping customers at the same location for 46 years. He is a Middletown native, growing up on Miller Street in the North End.

At one time there were 8 different service stations on Route 66, but they have gradually been replaced by the likes of Jiffy Lube, and drive-through Donut shops and Drug stores. Larry sold gasoline at his station until 1999, when he said the money involved got to be too much. He had his gasoline tanks removed from the ground, but keeps the old pumping aisle in front of the garage for nostalgia, "It just wouldn't be right to have my service station without a gas pump island in front."

My family has had our mechanical automotive work done by Larry for many years, and I have come to appreciate his constant cheer, his good work, reasonable rates, and above all else the honesty that he gives and expects in return. I was not surprised to learn that when he still operated a gasoline pumping station, regular customers would often come in to ring up their own gas on the cash register. Like the Galles at Neon Deli, Larry sees himself and his business as part of the community, a brother and friend to everybody who stops by.

Larry's openness and honesty is such that when I told him I needed tires for our 1985 Ford F100, he suggested I could get them cheaper at one of the big mega-stores in the strip mall (I bought them there, and had Larry install them). Another time he spent half an hour chasing down a funny sound in my wife's car and initially refused to take any money for it (she eventually bought him lunch). On a couple of occasions he has sent us elsewhere for car repairs that he felt somebody else could do a better job on.

The economic downturn is hurting car repair business as much as anything else--Larry said that people were putting off the maintenance, going longer between oil and tire changes. However, he said that he was OK with less. Larry told me that in a recession like this, he felt lucky that he was not a rich man dependent on having lots of money. He said he learned to be very happy without all the extravagances, growing up on Miller Street.