Situation
Many roads and bridges in historic and rural areas of Connecticut are in need of safety and/or structural improvements. When state and federal funds are used to finance the projects, the CT Dept. of Transportation (ConnDOT) reviews and approves of the design and the design guidelines used. Town officials complained about the scale and scope of the projects, declaring many of them to be inappropriate for their rural, scenic, environmental or cultural context. Town officials also complained about the higher cost of unnecessarily large projects. A transportation work group in one part of the state had worked with ConnDOT asking for revised design guidelines to address concerns, but were told the waiver process could be used. The towns approached the CRDC and their state legislators and their congressional representative for assistance at a statewide level.

Goals

• Convene the relevant levels of government - local, state and federal - and interest groups including historic preservationists, environmentalists, and planners, to develop a common information base.
• Articulate and identify the various positions and concerns.
• Learn about what other states were doing.
• Consider options for approaching the problem in Connecticut.

Activities
CRDC’s executive director and transportation committee members recruited selected municipal officials, ConnDOT, a state historic preservation trust, a statewide association of small towns and the U.S. congressional representative. A working committee formed and planned a Dec. 1996 public education forum, "Designing Roads and Bridges to Preserve Community Character." The U.S. congressional representative, high level USDOT, FHWA and ConnDOT officials and state legislators were among the speakers who addressed an audience of over 200 people from all parts of the state.

Initial Results
The first three goals were met at the forum itself. The alliance between historic preservationists, environmentalists and town elected officials demonstrated widespread interest in revised design standards for projects. A coalition of state legislators met following the forum and worked for passage of a law in 1997. As result of the law, ConnDOT developed new Local Bridge project design exception procedures which are supposed to be more flexible and less onerous for towns to obtain.

Expected/Future ResultsIncreased community-sensitive road and bridge design from ConnDOT. Greater citizen awareness of the effect of transportation projects on the rural character of towns, and on the importance of community input to the design process. Additional state legislation is expected to be introduced in the upcoming session to require preparation of new standards for roads and bridges.

Update, May 1998 
Council members met with state legislators, ConnDOT and Federal Highway Administration staff in early 1998 to continue the dialog on guidelines. Legislation was introduced requiring the Department to develop alternative guidelines and to consult with certain groups including the CT Rural Development Council. The Council submitted supportive testimony at a legislative public hearing. The bill was adopted by large margins in both houses and is now state law, effective October 1, 1998. The Council will encourage participation of a variety of stakeholder groups in the review of draft guidelines prepared by the ConnDOT staff. 

Due to the Council’s work on compatible community design, we were invited to and did attend "Thinking Beyond the Pavement: A National Workshop on Integrating Highway Development with Communities and the Environment" co-sponsored by the State of Maryland’s Highway Department, Federal Highway Administration and several other organizations. The workshop was attended by national organizations and persons from 38 states. As the only State Rural Development Council present, we were able to educate people about SRDCs and some of the roles they can play in this issue.