Lawmakers passed a bill past year that they hoped would lead to the creation of a vibrant area in East Hartford. It was a key move to push forward an $840 million mixed-use overhaul of struggling office buildings. In an effort to fast track the development, language was included in the law that would exempt it from a safety review process that applies to major projects expected to generate significant traffic. State Department of Transportation officials, however, are requesting that exemption language be repealed. As a potential “major traffic generator,” Port Eastside should go through a review and approval process by DOT’s Office of the State Traffic Administration, the state agency said. The large mixed-used development, located near an on-ramp and an off-ramp for Route 2, “contains significant potential to generate traffic that can back up the state limited access highways,” DOT said. “This situation increases the risk of a high-speed collision.” But last year’s bill, which Gov. Ned Lamont signed into law in June, “takes the extreme step of removing jurisdiction over this development away from the agency of cognizance, at a time when road safety is a core focus of CTDOT and the Lamont administration,” the agency said. “This would set a dangerous precedent that every future developer will seek to duplicate.”
‘Dangerous precedent’: CT lawmakers urged to undo law that exempts major project from safety review
