Submitted by Bulky-Mark315 t3_z692cl in Connecticut
Prestigious_Bobcat29 t1_iy13jol wrote
As someone who works for another COG, not WestCOG, let me be very explicit in saying corporations have exactly 0 influence on the career bureaucrats writing these plans. However we ARE legally bound to serve the public will.
OP is correct that very few people show up to these things or submit public comment. This is both because of public ambivalence and poor publicizing by government. But he is absolutely wrong that it would not matter if more people did. These plans have significant influence on how your tax dollars get spent, you should absolutely submit comments and take surveys when offered.
Active right now: Naugatuck Valley & MetroCOG (greater Bridgeport) long term transportation plan survey: https://survey123.arcgis.com/share/e7b4edb36c3740ec9be13aa9e9c4bf7e
CTDOT I95 Branford-RI study: https://www.i95easternct.com/get-engaged
Kodiak01 t1_iy4zxqd wrote
> OP is correct that very few people show up to these things or submit public comment. This is both because of public ambivalence and poor publicizing by government.
And the fact that the meetings are held at the absolute worst possible times for the average worker. How is a working stiff supposed to take most of the day off from their job so they can sit at a public meeting being held as 12pm-1pm in the afternoon on a Wednesday or Thursday?
Synapse82 t1_iy1vpds wrote
I don’t even know what a COG or westCOG is. So I’d say engagement and outreach probably is lacking. First I’ve heard of it
Prestigious_Bobcat29 t1_iy1ww32 wrote
Council of Governments, they act as regional planning and coordination agencies. They aren’t official units of governments but rather associations of municipalities. All the municipalities are members of a cog, though the northeast and northwest don’t have planning authority.
Synapse82 t1_iy1xjk6 wrote
Ahh gotcha, well I’m in Suffield area maybe that’s why. Thanks
Prestigious_Bobcat29 t1_iy24igv wrote
Your town most likely belongs to capitol region COG then! https://crcog.org/
Edit: it looks like they actually released their public survey for the long term transportation plan the other day! https://crcog.org/2022/11/public-survey-metropolitan-transportation-plan/
Hope this is helpful!
Synapse82 t1_iy6sdrn wrote
Nice, thanks! This is good stuff
Bulky-Mark315 OP t1_iy16so9 wrote
>But he is absolutely wrong that it would not matter if more people did.
No, I'm pretty sure I'm write because none of these plans are binding and our "leaders" in the CGA can simply decide to do whatever they want. They don't have to commit to or fund any of these COG plans.
Prestigious_Bobcat29 t1_iy1bg9h wrote
The CGA is almost entirely irrelevant in this context, except in determining the sizes of the pools of $ (though Munis and COGs have access to federal pots as well and can bypass the state, and of course munis can raise their own funds) and the very very rare instances where they get directly involved in a particular project.
Projects that aren’t in the plans don’t get funded, it’s one of the first things that gets discussed in funding applications. State/federal DOT priorities are much much bigger drivers than anything the CGA says. For example we just submitted a grant application under the federal “safe streets for all” program that will fund 18 projects in our region. Asked for as part of the grant, we can point to all 18 projects being included in our existing plans.
Not everything in the existing plans are good projects, but they could just as easily get funded under an administration with different priorities (widening i95 for example). Getting that taken out of rivercog and southeastcog’s plans matters! It’s why 11 extending to new London is dead and buried for the foreseeable future, hopefully forever.
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