With the State of Connecticut facing a proposed 2 and 2.6 billion dollar deficit budget for the next two years at least, it behooves all of the state agencies, especially the DOT, to pay special attention to state spending. With that thought in mind, the best thing that we can do for the College Highway (Route 10 and 202), Notch Road and East Street proposed roundabout is to cancel the project all together. This project, #55-141, is not desirable or necessary.
If this project is completed then the traffic speed in the roundabout area will drop from the present 45 to 50 mph on the College Highway to less than 25 mph. This will be about a 50 percent drop in traffic speed when the usage is high. Traffic will back up for a long way on the College Highway. Since auto traffic flow information was not provided at the public information meeting on Sept. 26, we do not know how severe this congestion will be. I asked the presenters for present auto traffic flow information at the meeting but did not get a satisfactory response. It looks like the College Highway will become a slow moving parking lot at times when traffic is heavy. This is not in the best interest of the motoring public.
If the roundabout project is cancelled, it will save 4.1 million dollars or more. The state government will save some of the money and the federal government will save the rest. This is not a lot of saving for the state when you consider that the proposed deficit budget will be 2.6 billion dollars in 2020 when the roundabout is expected to be complete. However, anything saved will be helpful. Remember the old adages: “A penny saved is a penny earned,” and “Some savings is better than nothing,” and “If it works, don’t fix it.”
In conclusion, it is better to spend as little money as possible while we are dealing with our presently over spent state and federal government deficits. This is especially true for the roundabout project because the slow moving traffic will cause the highway to become a slow moving parking lot. This will infuriate drivers and create dangerous conditions.