Now this is something we like to see from our political flunkies. Action words.

“I want this issue resolved once and for all, and as quickly as possible – as do the tens of thousands of commuters who get on and off the Merritt at Route 7 daily,” Rell said. “It is time for everyone to listen to one another, come up with a plan that makes sense for everyone and the environment, and get this project off the drawing board and moving toward reality.”

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Soon digging for quarters to feed the parking meters in SoNo will be joined by a new payment option, a special issued parking payment card. Finally! And word, according to the Hour, is that other parking areas may get the option too. From the Hour:

The debit cards will hold $25 in value and deduct that amount in 25-cent increments. Parking Authority members say the cards will offer motorists convenience.

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The good news is that a new DOT chief is once again in play. Earlier this week, Ralph Carpenter resigned. From The Courant:

When Gov. M. Jodi Rell named Ralph G. Carpenter to head the state Department of Transportation in August 2006, the agency was reeling from a series of scandals, including a failed highway project that brought on investigations by the FBI and state attorney general.

Carpenter, who retired from the state police as a lieutenant colonel and then served as head of the state Department of Motor Vehicles, brought a much needed sense of integrity to the post but little knowledge about the state’s transportation needs. Few believed he would remain in that post for long.

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While I love driving, I prefer driving on roads without other cars, thus I’m a huge fan of mass transportation, especially in the form of trains, planes and zeppelins. Then there’s the old fashiony trolley. The venerable Boston T, and the San Diego Trolley system work great. I think Connecticut could use a more subway/metro underground system. Montreal has turned metro and retail into an art form.

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I have always thought that Fairfield county has more in common with Westchester county than the rest of Connecticut. Our economies are intertwined, connected by the proximity to NYC, but also generating its own set of issues. With the combined populations of nearly 2 million, the the combined counties rivals cities like Cleveland. Regional thinking within Connecticut is practically unheard of, and between counties in different states, certainly a new way of thinking. But it should happen.

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Sorting through the Hour’s article this morning, it appears rather straightforward. The Norwalk Harbor is contaminated because unfiltered sotrm drains dump directly into the harbor. The state DOT once again is indifferent to Norwalk’s requests.

As the city presses forward with an innovative storm-drain filter program, which public works officials estimate has kept 1,200 gallons of oil from entering Long Island Sound — and as Conservation and Zoning commissioners work to ensure that contaminants from development projects do not seep into groundwater — nothing is being done to protect Norwalk Harbor from I-95.

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Once again, Deering Construction finds itself the subject of ire by Norwalk residents as sloppy traffic safety on roads Deering is paving results in accidents. Apparently the Norwalk DPW is waiting till a lawyer gets seriously injured before enforcing basic traffic safety precautions. The excuses provided just go to show you why a change is needed in DPW oversight.

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Talks are nearing an end in the long running, try since 2005, dispute between the DOT and the Merritt Parkway Conservancy. The DOT may be warming to the idea that they create a cloverleaf interchange. For some reason the DOT is against the idea of cloverleaf interchanges.

The new design is a “slightly altered” version of the blueprint the conservancy has advocated for and “the DOT is giving it a serious look,” agency spokesman Judd Everhart said. DOT “cannot commit to it without further evaluation and consideration of safety and efficiency issues.”

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We could all see this one coming. When Rep. Richard Roy, D-Milford, went on a crusade to get the state legislator to pass a statewide ban on hand held cell phones, the likely outcome was going to be what we see now. People still drive, yakking on cell phones, held in their hands. Except that maybe they have some hands-free device sitting in the car with them, unused.

Naturally Richard Roy wants to revisit the legislation, and increase the fine, currently $100 and spending tax money on an education program, presumably to alert people to the law. As if people were actually unaware. Which is not the problem.

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The New York Times recently ran a story on the cup cake saga, that delightful little cake that drives school boards across the land to ban these little frosted topped confections from the classrooms, cafeterias and bake sales. The obsession with childhood obesity has nothing on the real threat to the free world, obese tractor trailer trucks, more commonly referred to as overweight trucks.

And the Greenwich weigh station is the place to be, when its open, to see just how many trucks crash the scales. According to the 4,500 rucks passed through the Greenwich weigh station over the past 4 days, and one truck managed tip the scales 40,000 pounds over the weight limit.

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