Places like New York, Los Angeles and Atlanta may get the headlines, but traffic in Connecticut can be just as frustrating as anywhere else in this country.
Anyone who recalls the era when one would have to get off the highway and stop at a traffic light in downtown Hartford when attempting to go from I-84 East to I-91 North knows this.
Anyone who has driven through Danbury or Waterbury on I-84 during on a holiday weekend recently, or I-95 in Fairfield Country during a, well, any day, knows that you need a strong stomach to survive driving in the Constitution State.
Currently, there is a proposal to completely redesign the 84/91 interchange in Hartford, opening up the waterfront in the capital city, opening up the possibility of usable space in neighboring East Hartford for a number of projects, and generally clearing a section of highway that gets clogged regularly. Veteran journalist Tom Condon detailed the “Hartford 400” project’s prospects in an excellent story this week for the Connecticut Mirror.
It’s a seemingly good idea to transform the area, though the $17 billion price tag provides plenty of sticker shock. On its face, the idea seems reasonable and perhaps even doable.
But the plans beg the eternal question of why the Hartford area has become seemingly dismissive of public transportation.
Yes, the upgraded Hartford Line on CT rail has been successful and the CT Fastrak bus service to New Britain has seen good usage. Those offer mere drops in the bucket to alleviate traffic woes permanently.
The region could absolutely benefit from a light rail system in and around Hartford. Various proposals have been made over the last half-century, including one some 20 years ago that appeared to have plenty of merit: an oval loop with lines bisecting it that linked places like Rentschler Field in East Hartford, the Xfinity Theater in Hartford, the Westfarms mall in West Hartford, and other popular destinations.
Many metropolitan areas have added rail systems or streetcar systems in recent years, including Dallas, Oklahoma City, Trenton, New Jersey, and others.
It’s certainly an idea worth looking at again for greater Hartford.
And it’s likely to provide a ride you can easily stomach.
RADIO STAR DIES: Those of us who grew up listening to FM radio in the last century — you see, kids, a radio broadcast is that thing you hear briefly before your Bluetooth connects in your parents’ car — lost a familiar voice last week.
Rebecca Pratt, a longtime radio personality on WCCC-FM in Hartford and WAAF-FM in Worcester/Boston, died Dec. 29 in New Orleans at age 55, The Times-Picayune reported on Tuesday.
Pratt, who grew up in Fairfield, was found dead in her apartment by building managers, The Times-Picayune reported. The cause and manner of death have not been determined.
Pratt was a transgender woman who was formerly known as John Osterlind. She hosted an evening hard rock program known as the “O-Zone” on both WCCC and WAAF in the 1990s.
If you wanted to hear AC/DC or Metallica or Van Halen in Southern New England in that era, you were a faithful listener of the “O-Zone.” The ’80s at 8, a segment that aired as part of the O-Zone not very long after that decade ended, featured Pratt playing even more obscure (awesome?) bands such as Enuff Z’Nuff, W.A.S.P., Slaughter, and L.A. Guns.
It’s been a long time since Pratt was on the air in this market. And, we must confess, it’s been a long time since such music was in the mainstream.
But throw on a Tesla or a Ratt tape this weekend in tribute. Or an album. Or a CD.
OK, just connect your Spotify or Apple Music app to the car’s Bluetooth and download a song or two.
That’s something Pratt would have appreciated.
THUMBS UP: To those helping preserve the familiar Caprilands farmhouse in Coventry and the memorabilia it used to house. The building will be re-assembled in a nearby New York community but many of the artifacts are now in possession of the Coventry Historical Society.
THUMBS DOWN: Many of those convicted of crimes should face scorn, but it is especially painful to see cases like one of Robert Eckert. The 56-year-old former executive director of the Lutz Children’s Museum was sentenced this week to 5½ years in prison for distributing child pornography. There aren’t appropriate words to describe the betrayal of trust that occurred here.
TOWN OF THE WEEK: South Windsor. The town’s police have been dealing with lots of significant incidents lately, from a gun-toting road-rager, to a drunken driver sideswiping a cruiser, to the stunning death of a prisoner in their custody. They could use a quiet week or two.
Email/voicemail/snail mail messages suggesting I need to have my head examined: 1 — There are a few ways to get what you want out of a certain editor in this town. If you sign your correspondence with “A fan of Matt Buckler,” as one emailer did recently, there’s a good chance I will honor the request if it’s in my power.
Fish caught: 3 — One large brown trout came ashore with the help of a spoon at Crystal Lake as the ice moved away briefly. A few panfish followed his lead, too.