[reason180]

Originally Posted by HeadedWest

That would be nice. Why didn't it happen already?

Since I have moved to CT, I have found lots of talk about transportation infrastructure improvements, but almost no actual improvements.

Welcome to Corrupticut!

The state should have made improvements to EXISTING infrastructure years ago. Stamford is number five on the list of American cities with the most corporate headquarters, a very large number of CT residents need to commute there. It is sad that ConnDot spent all those years funneling money to ex-ConnDot employees working for highway construction contractors.

The good news is there have been two transportation summits involving political honchos from Southern New England, NY, and NJ trying to hammer out a regional plan for mass transit.

Destination : Freedom Newsletter - October 15, 2007

[CTYankee69]

Originally Posted by HeadedWest

The opposition in Wilton is something I never understood.

State: We want to construct a road that will remove most of the horrible traffic from your route 7, and spare you the trucks that rumble through your town. We already own 90% of the land we need.

Wilton: No thanks; we like congestion, air pollution and delay. We enjoy having our town cut in half for hours each day.

I agree with you as to why?

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by reason180

Welcome to Corrupticut!

The state should have made improvements to EXISTING infrastructure years ago. Stamford is number five on the list of American cities with the most corporate headquarters, a very large number of CT residents need to commute there. It is sad that ConnDot spent all those years funneling money to ex-ConnDot employees working for highway construction contractors.

The good news is there have been two transportation summits involving political honchos from Southern New England, NY, and NJ trying to hammer out a regional plan for mass transit.

Destination : Freedom Newsletter - October 15, 2007

Despite what you think ConnDOT works very well with a very limited budget. It does not have the time or resources to fight with the locals to make improvements to the roadways. Look at the Route 7/Merritt Parkway interchange project that opposition has stalled just as construction is about to begin. How much money will now be wasted to fight over this important project? There are many other projects that ConnDOT can build without problems so the money gets reallocated elsewhere. It is just the way the system works. Jay

[HeadedWest]

Stamford is number five on the list of American cities with the most corporate headquarters, a very large number of CT residents need to commute there.

There have been many newspaper stories in the Stamford area about how the local gridlock is making the area a harder sell for corporate locations.

[reason180]

Originally Posted by JayCT

Despite what you think ConnDOT works very well with a very limited budget.

Connecticut - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

From Wikipedia:

A more recent scandal involved a botched construction project on Interstate 84 near Waterbury. An independent audit of the project in late 2006 revealed that over 300 storm drains installed by the now-defunct L.G. DeFelice Construction Company, were either filled with sand, were improperly installed, or were connected with pipes that led to nowhere. In addition to the faulty storm drains, officials discovered light fixtures with defective mounting brackets when one of the fixtures fell off of its support pole and onto the highway. Inspectors also discovered the structural steel for an overpass was not properly installed, raising serious questions about the bridge's structural integrity. Following the uncovering of this scandal, Attorney-General Richard Blumenthal filed suit against L.G. DeFelice, its bonding company USF&G, and the consultants (the Maguire Group) hired by CONNDOT to oversee the project, resulting in a $17.5 million settlement to fix the problems. A federal grand jury and FBI investigation were also launched into the operations of L.G. DeFelice before the company ceased operations in 2004. Several CONNDOT employees were fired after being implicated in the scandal, and are also subjects of state and federal investigations for allegedly taking bribes in exchange for covering up substandard work on the I-84 project. Finally, the scandal prompted the Connecticut General Assembly to consider contract reform legislation and Governor M. Jodi Rell to order a complete reorganization of CONNDOT.

[reason180]

Originally Posted by JayCT

There are many other projects that ConnDOT can build without problems so the money gets reallocated elsewhere.

The money gets reallocated to their ConnDOT dirty contractor friend's pockets!

From the NY Times 10/23/2004:



Four employees of the State Department of
Transportation were placed on paid leave Friday after
an audit of the department, Gov. M. Jodi Rell said.
The audit revealed ''a pattern of deceptions'' that
included falsifying invoices and circumventing bidding
procedures on contracts at three Connecticut train and
bus stations, she said in a statement.

The investigation of the department's Bureau of Public
Transportation was requested by Mrs. Rell on July 12,
after a complaint was filed with the state attorney
general. The complaint claimed that a supervisor in
the bureau had used the same contractor he hired to
renovate his office at Union Station in New Haven to
put a bathroom at his home in Fairfield.

Last month, based on early findings of the audit, Mrs.
Rell requested an investigation of the bureau by the
United States attorney in Connecticut. The
transportation department receives state and federal
dollars.

The shake-up at the bureau comes two weeks after the
state attorney general, Richard Blumenthal, claimed
that two employees of the State Department of
Environmental Protection received thousands of dollars
in home improvements in the late 1990's from a North
Haven company with more than $1 million in state
contracts for environmental cleanups.

[JayCT]

reason180 - The I-84 problems can squarely be laid on the Governor's office. Under the Rowland administration, the State laid-off or retired hundreds of DOT personnel which left the department a mere shell of its former self. As a result of this, personnel were assigned multiple projects to cover. A Project Manager would normally be assigned one project the scope of the I-84 project. Instead they had four, which made it impossible to make critical decisions on the project during its construction and properly oversee the project and its consultant. To compound the problem of lack of staff, the Department limited over-time.

ConnDOT administers hundred's of millions of dollars worth of projects, many of which are very complex and problem plauged and the I-84 project is only one failure. There are thousands of projects that there were no problems with but the newspapers do not cover those because that type of news does not sell papers. Don't get me wrong, there is no excuse for the I-84 project but we have to understand that you can't run a system as large and complex as ConnDOT on a shoestring without paying the price.

As for the problems with the corruption, the State employees thousands of people so there is bound to be a few bad apples. Maybe we should be asking why these people are doing this. Why would they risk their careers and jail time for what really is a minor amount of money. The answer could be that the temptation is so great and their pay is so little they could not resist. They get frustrated with a system that discourages them from making decisions or doing more than just what they have to to get by. This effects morale and self-estem. There are thousands of dedicated people at ConnDOT and I do not understand how they can work with some of the conditions they have to deal with. JMHO Jay