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

Environmental Protection from Commuter Rail

From an article by James P. Repass in Sunday's Hartford Courant:

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, under the Bush administration utterly supine to nearly every extractive, Superfund site-creating and/or polluting industry, has suddenly gotten religion.

They have decided to save us from the environmental dangers of ... commuter rail!

Governor Rell, with bipartisan support, has endorsed a plan to link New Haven and Springfield with a commuter train, proposed to begin in 2010 or 2011. It would run on existing tracks, and would complement the Amtrak trains that run from Springfield to New Haven 8 times a day. There would be 12 stops, near Middletown the train would stop in Wallingford, Meriden, and Berlin. Now the EPA has expressed concern about the environmental impact of a commuter train line on existing tracks already being used.

A regular, reliable commuter rail between New Haven and Springfield would provide an enormous, immediate benefit to Middletown. The Meriden Train Station is a very easy drive, only minutes from most of Middletown. If there were regular train service from there to points north and south, it would connect Middletown to other vibrant towns in Connecticut and beyond, while simultaneously reducing traffic on I91 and Rte 9. If Middetown could develop a regular bus or rail service between our downtown and the Meriden Rail Station, it would bring in more people to Middletown for commerce and culture, while simultaneously reducing traffic on Rte 66.

Free rides from Rell

Governor Rell announced this week (press release with lots of web links here) that the state would provide free bus rides and vanpooling options to state commuters, to encourage alternative transportation. 10 free bus tickets are available for use on state-sponsored bus lines. 3 free vanpooling vouchers are also available, for programs such as Easy Street (which already has some vans coming to workplaces in Middletown), NuRide, and Telecommute Connecticut.

From Middletown, call 1-800-972-EASY to sign up for your free commutes.