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

Bus drivers lodge complaints at Council Meeting

An unexpected gripe session broke out at last night's Common Council meeting between drivers for Middletown Area Transit, and it's owner, Thomas Cheeseman. Sloan Brewster covers the story in the Middletown Press this morning.

Mayor Sebastian Giuliano, presiding over the Council meeting, suggested that the give and take between drivers and Cheeseman, who was accompanied by his attorney, was not appropriate at the Council meeting.

Questions remain, however. The town helps fund MAT, and drivers have made accusations of unsafe buses, on-the-job harassment and unjustified dismissals.

It seems that as a major funder, the City of Middletown ought to be concerned about vehicle and passenger safety, and the legitimacy of labor complaints.