Mayor: DOT to hold Route 9 public forum Nov. 18 as residents press for clearer plans

Mayor Nocera announced that the Connecticut Department of Transportation will sponsor a public forum on the Route 9 project at Middletown High School on November 18 at 6:30 p.m., and said the project plans are approximately 60–70% complete and not final.

At the community meeting, resident Ed McKeown pressed the council for clearer information on project sequencing, asking “where we are, at what point where we are and, you know, if we could understand completely what phase 1 and phase 2 and phase 3 is and what it means and where we are.” McKeown said he mistrusts DOT and cited local crash data as a reason to scrutinize safety claims and traffic changes.

Why it matters: Route 9 and related local street changes could reshape traffic patterns for decades and require coordination between state and local agencies, so residents and council members said they want transparent timelines, clear explanations of proposed traffic modifications and independent technical review.

In response to McKeown’s concerns, Mayor Nocera said DOT is the forum sponsor and confirmed the town is providing Middletown High School as a hybrid meeting location. Nocera cautioned that the Route 9 design is not final, describing the design status as “about 60 to 70%” complete, and said a separate group scheduled a meeting about the railroad bridge tied to the broader effort; he also referenced the project’s scale, noting a $50,000,000 figure when discussing the bridge-related work.

McKeown urged the council to hire a neutral traffic engineer to review plans before the city accepts changes that could affect local streets for generations: “I think my suggestion is that the common council … hire a traffic engineer to help look at the plans and understand the impact because none of it I’m not an expert,” he said.

Next steps: Mayor Nocera said the DOT forum will be publicized soon and will be held as a hybrid event at Middletown High School. The meeting closed without votes on Route 9 matters; the community will have a chance to attend the announced forum to provide comment directly to DOT.