Washington Street Scene of Zombie Apocalypse Tonight

(News report/Commentary)

No, not really, but it sure felt like the start of a zombie apocalypse driving home coming off of 91 south eventually onto route 66 Washington Street during the last leg of rush hour this evening. No street lights, no store lights, and cars vying for position to exit the area. An electrical fire at a transformer near CVS caused the power outage. At the intersection of Washington and Boston Post Road, police closed route 66 and directed traffic towards the outskirts of town.

So what is this a picture of? That would be the Home Depot & Price Chopper sign that usually illuminates a good portion of the street. Even the golden arches were out. The landscape along this stretch of road was surreal this evening; few emergency lights loomed from stores, and almost none lit the exterior portions of buildings. Staples' plaza was also completely dark aside from faint emergency lighting coming from buildings. The lights shown brightly from the vacant A&P. How this is possible is sort of shocking and scary to me; by code during a fire emergency lights inside buildings kick in to light signs and provide minimal yet essential lighting for those seeking escape. Why there are not significantly more exterior emergency lights and for if the power were to be cut during a fire I do not know. What is missing here is any lot lights in the vast parking lots along Washington Street- any pedestrians in these lots were at the mercy of drivers who could only see them by headlights.

It is too bad in this situation that store owners have not taken advantage of new technology that's environmentally friendly too; solar lighting. And no, not your Gramma's solar panels, these are hefty enough to power parking lot lights and need no external power to operate the batteries. These babies and others like them do not require line voltage at all and bank collected power. Sidewalk lighting, lot lighting, traffic lights, the possibilities are endless.

New Solar Lot Lights Its ok if people wish to comment how maybe this is not a 100% great idea, and the situations it would not work, but I think you catch my drift the point I am trying to make. Today's technology working for a better community and environment, the public should expect no less from developers & business owners looking to invest in Middletown. Tax breaks & grants should be given to help out business owners in rough times to make better choices too.

Middletown, lets put a few of these on our Christmas list.

Army Releases Draft Environmental Assessment

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has released the Environmental Assessment (EA) regarding the military training facility that they claim is mandated to be built in Middletown. This draft EA, required under the National Environmental Policy Act, will now have a 30-day period for the public to comment.  

The Corps are evaluating three sites: Ken Dooley Drive (referred to as Millenium Industrial Park, abutting the Boardman Lane parcel), Cucia Park on Smith Street, and the Bysiewicz property on Middle Street (referred to as Liberty Park).  All of these sites are in Westfield.   The EA also considers a "No Action Alternative." The Corps stated last Monday that Cucia Park is their preferred alternative.  

The training facility will include buildings of over 200,000 square feet (4.5 acres) and paved parking of 8.76 acres.  100 full-time staff will be assigned to the facility, and about 900 personnel will train there. On each weekend of the month, only about a third of the units would train on the site.  The site will include a weapons simulator, a vault, an assembly area, and various classroom and fitness training centers.  

In addition to the draft EA, the army has released a draft Finding of No Significant Impact (FNSI). The FNSI indicates that construction on the sites will not adversely affect such things as traffic, wetlands, Middletown economy, archeological artifacts, or the environment.  

The draft EA and FNSI are available on the Army Corps' Wordpress blog, as well as at the Corps' own web page.  They are also available at Russell Public Library.  The 30 day comment period began on April 22nd, and runs until May 21st, 2009.  Comments should be sent to:

Craig Kelley

BRAC Environment Coordinator

99th Regional Support Command (East)

11 Saratoga Boulevard

Devens, MA 01432

(978) 796-2606

Craig.A.Kelley@NAE02.usace.army.mil

Commentary "Lead us not into Temptation."

a proverb from the Lord's Prayer, left at the door when entering the chambers of the P&Z meeting on Wednesday night?

It is hard to believe that not one person at the meeting standing in favor of the Walgreens at the intersection of Main and East Main Streets dared to question the wisdom, of the developer and the city on the plan as proposed. Where was the concern for our God given Earth and her environment and a consideration of what is best for the planet? Where was the concern for all people of your local community, not just the people of the church? Surely there must be some members of the public who spoke in favor of the proposal who where questioning the wisdom of the plan as presented. Did you dare not speak-up and ask the developer to consider the health and safety of all who would be subject to the changes in traffic patterns, (drive thru, adding more driveways for in and out of traffic, lane change configurations, additional lanes, additional traffic, increased speed of traffic, changing the environment for pedestrians, wheelchair users, and bicyclists) not just the motoring public, for fear the entire plan would be denied? Where is your awareness or concern for environmental justice? (Please see Wikipedia definition at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_justice ). Where is the concern to provide an environment that is safe and secure for those who chose active transport, or those who might not have any other choice but to use active transport? Does Walgreens or any other pharmacy for that matter—our corporate "purveyors of health"—have policies that involve doing what is best to truly promote good health for ALL Americans. The research literature is clear (please take some time to visit the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation web site, http://www.rwjf.org/pr/product.jsp?id=20112 this is just one of many good sites, thought arguably one of the best sites for lots of specific and general information on the subject), (additional source of good information, from the American Public Health Association web site, titled At the Intersection of Public Health and Transportation: Promoting Healthy Transportation Policy. http://www.apha.org/NR/rdonlyres/43F10382-FB68-4112-8C75-49DCB10F8ECF/0/TransportationBrief.pdft )that the built environment and land use patterns are having profound effects on the nations health; does anyone know this, does anyone care? Does anyone care how much this is costing us as a nation in terms of health care spending dollars? Welcome to views of the movie Wall.E World.
http://www.apple.com/trailers/disney/walle/

I am saddened, as well as disappointed that not one person standing in favor of the plan said please, perhaps we should reconsider some aspects of the plan, and acknowledge that our friends on the other side of the aisle have some reasonable points regarding health and safety/injury prevention. This nation is facing an obesity epidemic, with resulting chronic health ramifications. Much of CT, Middletown included, has heads and feet buried in quick-sand, regarding some of the documented ill effects of the built environment and land usage policy as it currently exists, on our nation's, and on our very own local health. This is why I will continue to go to planning and zoning meetings week after to week to speak to this pressing concern, and continue to ask that the city, that the P&Z, that anyone who cares, and can help to effect change, step up to the plate and get serious about getting something done, and setting precedents for what can be expected of developers and ourselves—the future of our city and all who live here—to see that we build the city in a manner that is conducive to,(trees, plantings, benches, pedestrian friendly, family friendly sidewalks, safe accessibility for those traveling by wheelchair, or cane, and bicycle friendly roads, ect.) encourages, promotes and allows for, healthy active behaviors. The other side of the health coin that plays into this plea is reducing our accident, injury and mortality rates, not just in the best interests of motorists, but for all users.

It is not to late. Please reconsider, consider the evidence, and ask the city and developer to take a closer look at what they can do, to do a better job—in building this space, and building place and all future spaces that promote health for the environment, health for the people—for you, for me—and yes, even the health and good will of the corporation.

State legislative happenings; I am forwarding this update that came my way. Contact your representatives to voice your support of these measures.
COMPLETE STREETS
Transportation Committee also has a bill, currently being drafted by a group working with Rep. Tom Kehoe and the Committee Co-Chairs, which will call for comprehensive "Complete Streets" programs. This legislation will do various things to make our transportation system more accommodating towards pedestrians and cyclists, including requiring that the state DOT accommodate users other than drivers on our roads. It's quite long so I won't get into the details here. The number is SB 735 and the initial public hearing most likely will be in a couple of weeks.

In addition to SB 735, there are a number of other proposed bills out there related to traffic calming, traffic safety reporting, speeding issues on highways, crosswalk funding for school construction programs, better pedestrian accommodations around mass transit stops, and so on and so forth. As I understand, it is likely that many of these measures can be incorporated into the Transportation Committee's SB 735 "Complete Streets" bill -- but if you have extra time, don't hesitate to look them up now and thank the people who were involved in proposing each piece of legislation.