September 2016                       Issue 28
In This Issue
Focus on Training
September is National Preparedness Month
South Windsor's New Multi-Use Field
Back to School Safety
CTDOT Nominated for a National Award - Vote Today!
Focus on Training

Training helps remind us of things we have forgotten, learn new technology and ideas, and provides a way to share what we know with others. Our fall training season is about to be in full swing starting with our six week Public Works Academy and ending with Safety and Operations of a Front End Loader. In between you will learn about how to plan and manage local road snow and ice operations, how to use new data tools to make smart, informed decisions about improving local road safety, how to manage invasive plants and understanding weather information systems. Lots of varied topics. Take advantage of at least one of these to remember, learn, share and grow. We hope to see you soon.

Here is a link to our updated training calendar.

If you have suggestions for topics for 2017, don't hesitate to contact Mary McCarthy at: mary.c.mccarthy@uconn.edu.  
September is National Preparedness Month

Events like recent flooding in Louisiana, Hurricane Hermine in Florida and Hurricane Lester in the Gulf remind us that weather can change at a moment's notice.

 

Disasters don't always occur when we are together with our family and friends, so it's important to take time now to plan what you will do in an emergency. It only takes a few minutes to talk through the greatest risks that can affect where you live, work or go to school.

 

This September and throughout the year here are a few actions you can take to get started.

 

Download the FEMA app here.

Visit the FEMA website to find tools to make a family emergency plan.

 

For the Public Works First Responder Crews the T2 Center has many Emergency Response Resources for Public Works.
 

South Windsor's New Multi-Use Field

The Town of South Windsor's Planning, Public Works and Parks & Recreation Departments are working together to create a new multi-use field. The area off of Brookfield Street will be used as a debris management site, fair grounds, and a cricket pitch. Town crews have built the windbreak berm and started to level out  a 17 acre parcel for seeding in the very near future.   
 
 
To view more projects from the Town of South Windsor's Public Works Department please click here.
Back to School Safety

As summer draws to a close, back-to-school season is in full effect. Remember to safely share the roads with school buses, pedestrians and bicyclists, and provide children with the necessary knowledge to stay safe at school. 
 
Whether children walk, ride their bicycle or take the bus to school, it is extremely important that they and the motorists around them take proper safety precautions.  
 
To learn tips to send your kids off to school safely or learn how you can protect new teen drivers, click here to visit the National Safety Council's Keep Children Safe at School webpage.  
CTDOT Nominated for a National Award - Vote Today!

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), AAA and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, announced the finalists in the 2016 America's Transportation Awards competition. Twelve projects from 10 state departments of transportation, which includes the Connecticut Department of Transportation's Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge, are now competing for the national Grand Prize and the People's Choice Award .
The Connecticut Department of Transportation's Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge ("Q" Bridge) in New Haven, an extra-dosed bridge, is the first of its kind in the U.S., and it has shallower cable angles and lower tower heights while maintaining required span length and marine navigational clearances. The 4,200-foot-bridge spans the Quinnipiac River and connects with I-95, I-91 and Route 34. The unique $415 million bridge has become a distinctive landmark across the New Haven skyline and will handle 140,000 vehicles daily, improve safety and mobility, and facilitate freight rail activities at one of the busiest intermodal ports in the country.
Voting is open to the public and you are allowed to vote once every 24 hours through October 31, 2016. Click here to vote today!
If you have any ideas or suggestions for future Connecticut Crossroads topics, please feel free to email the designer Regina Hackett at regina.hackett@uconn.edu.