LISTENING SESSIONS FOR THE STATES LONG-RANGE TRANSPORTATION PLAN

	CONNECTICUT DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION NEWS RELEASE 2800 BERLIN TURNPIKE P.O. BOX 317546 NEWINGTON CONNECTICUT, 06131-7546
FOR RELEASE: November 26, 2007	FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS TELEPHONE: (860) 594-3062 Fax: (860) 594-3066 Web site:www.ct.gov/dot

LISTENING SESSIONS FOR THE STATE’S LONG-RANGE TRANSPORTATION PLAN

The Connecticut Department of Transportation’s final four listening sessions for updating the State’s Long-Range Transportation Plan (LRP) will be held this week and in early December. Since the beginning of November, three public listening sessions were held in Willimantic, Torrington and New Haven, Connecticut to gain input on issues relating to the State’s transportation system.

“The LRP listening sessions are an avenue for the public to help steer the direction of the State’s transportation policies. Ideas are being solicited and received on all aspects of the State’s system from visions for bikeways, bus, rail, water transportation and aviation to highways”, Commissioner Carpenter stated. “These sessions are not for project-specific discussions but are to examine the framework by which the Department pursues projects and prioritizes its resources. The LRP is a policy document with a twenty-year outlook, the Department’s foundation for identifying transportation strategies and actions relating to system preservation, efficient operation, economic vitality, safety, security, accessibility, interconnectivity, and environmental quality to help build and maintain the system.”

The dates, times, and specific locations of the remaining four sessions follow:

Session IV: Southeastern Connecticut Norwich, CT – Uncas on Thames Campus Southeastern Mental Health Authority Community Conference Room 401 West Thames Street (Route 32), on-site parking Wednesday, November 28, 2007 from 7:00PM – 9:00PM	Session V: Greater Hartford Area Newington, CT – Newington Senior and Disabled Center Auditorium 120 Cedar Street (Route 175), on-site parking Thursday, November 29, 2007 from 5:30PM – 8:30PM
Session VI: Housatonic/Central Naugatuck Valley Southbury, CT – Town Hall Room 205 501 Main Street South, on-site parking Monday, December 3, 2007 from 7:00PM – 9:00PM	Session VII: Bridgeport/Stamford Area Norwalk, CT – City Hall Community Room 125 East Avenue, on-site parking Tuesday, December 11, 2007 from 7:30PM – 9:30PM

Additional information on the LRP and the sessions is available at https://www.ct.gov/dot, including a form for submitting comments by email and directions to each of the session locations. Ideas and suggestions provided by the public at these sessions will be reviewed as part of the process for updating the LRP. At the start of each session, prior to opening the floor to public comment, a 20-minute presentation will be provided that offers background information on the LRP.

Written comments received prior to December 31, 2007, will also be reviewed as part of the process for preparing a draft document. Comments may be submitted electronically to roxane.fromson@po.state.ct.us. Comments may also be mailed to the attention of Ms. Roxane Fromson, Transportation Supervising Planner, Bureau of Policy and Planning at the Connecticut Department of Transportation, P.O. Box 317546, Newington, Connecticut 06131-7546.

All meeting facilities are handicapped accessible. Deaf and hearing impaired persons, wishing to attend a listening session and requiring an interpreter, may make arrangements by contacting the Department’s Office of Communications at (860) 594-3061 (voice only) at least five working days prior to the date of the session.