Gov. Blames Private Employers for Traffic Headaches
by Christine Stuart | December 14, 2007 4:45 PM
Posted to General News
In a press release, Friday Gov. M. Jodi Rell blamed Hartford’s 12 largest employers for not coordinating their employee dismissals with the state during a snow storm that dumped up to three inches per hour on the Capitol City.
Rell said her staff contacted area employers early Thursday morning to discuss how to coordinate dismissals, however, businesses, who employ 85,000 people, had not yet made a decision about when they would be letting their employees go home. She said the state staggered the release of its 35,000 employees.
In the future Rell wants Hartford area employers to coordinate the release of employees with the state when inclement weather is expected. “These coordinating calls will also help us minimize the disruption to highway preparation and clean-up,” Rell said in a press release.
Interstate 84 and Interstate 91 were shut down Thursday when a number of tractor trailers got stuck in the snow on the highways. The 1,452 state employees plowing the roads were unable to clear the snow because of the heavy traffic.
State Police responded to 1,641 calls from stranded or injured drivers.
Comments (3)
Posted by: Christine | December 14, 2007 4:58 PM
I left the state Capitol at 12:15 and it took me 45-minutes to drive 6 miles home. I took I-91 North from Hartford thinking it was going to be plowed better than Main Street. I was wrong. Aside from the fact that there was too much traffic for a plow to pass, the state of Connecticut needs to learn about a little four-letter word...SALT! I grew up in Illinois and no one ever used sand on the roads. Can anyone explain this? Surely we've evolved.
Posted by: phil | December 14, 2007 10:37 PM
Salt only works under certain temps. It was too cold that day for salt to work...besides that, snow not ice was the problem. In regards to Rell's letter. Perhaps the state should think twice before using private contractors to provide state services.
Posted by: kerri | December 15, 2007 10:08 AM
I blogged about this, but it seems to me that Rell is just trying to evade her responsibility in the headaches she caused the other day.
I was scheduled to work until 2pm. Because I'm a state employee, we were told we have to vacate the building at 12:30. At 12:20 on the dot a security guard came upstairs to kick everyone out. So, coworkers and I stood in back of the old GFox building for an hour and a half debating when would be a good time to leave. Because so many people in this small area are state employees (or students who were kicked out because of the state shutdown), the roads were too clogged to even consider joining the Morgan/Talcott Street parking lots.
For me, part of my choice to wait for awhile was in trying to leave before I thought private employers might let their workers out.
Such incompetence!
I saw one dumptruck go through dropping that green stuff (what is that? nuclear salt?), and that one lane melted instantly. Other than that, I saw no plowing or salting the entire day, even after I got home.
I've lived in New England my whole life. I have a high tolerance for snowstorms. I have low tolerance for poor decisions made by people who think that forcing people into this mess is going to make them want to, as she put it, sit down, have a cup of tea, and watch the news.