Maturo: '99%' of East Haven Secondary Roads 'Are Now Passable'

The following is the latest storm recovery update from the East Haven Mayor's Office.

As Town crews and private contractors worked throughout last night, it appears that 99% of the secondary roads are now passable for emergencies and one lane of traffic. In addition to the Mayor, members of the Fire Department surveyed all roads late last night and will be returning out today to report on the conditions of any streets that critically need more work.

Maturo explained, “Work clearing secondary roads around Town can be a painstakingly slow process at times due to many of the limitations of the width of the roads and the residents who need to park their cars on the street (legally) because they have no other alternative. Our next immediate goal is to attempt to make these streets passable to two lanes of traffic, which would enable school buses to traverse them. In addition, we need to concentrate on intersections which need to be adequately opened to allow school buses and larger vehicles to safely make turns. This stage of cleanup will be critical in order to enable the schools to reopen as soon as possible.”

Once again the Mayor reminds residents that the parking ban will remain in effect until further notice. He also cautions residents that aggressive enforcement of the parking ban will be necessary in order to get every street opened as indicated above. As the dig out progresses, residents are also asked to remind private contractors that it is illegal when clearing residential driveways to push the snow back into the roadway.

Maturo also indicated that the Town will continue to offer snowbound residents the service of picking up their medical prescriptions in certain critical situations through the courtesy of a McDermott Auto Group vehicle and the National Guard’s Humvee. Maturo indicated that these vehicles will also enable emergency response to any snowbound location. Residents who are snowbound and in dire need of their medication should contact 9-1-1 for this service. The

Town will pick up the prescription at the pharmacy and deliver it to the resident’s door.

Following the meeting, Maturo also provided the following updated closing information:

• Town of East Haven Offices will be OPEN Wednesday; regular hours;
• All East Haven Schools will be CLOSED Wednesday with further assessment later;
• East Haven Senior Center will be OPEN on Wednesday;
• Hagaman Memorial Library will be CLOSED Wednesday;
• Trash Master (our Town contractor) informs us Trash and Recycling Pickup for Wednesday WILL RESUME tomorrow; Monday and Tuesday will NOT be able to be picked up this week.

Maturo concluded, “As I indicated throughout this emergency, we will continue to use the Emergency Notification Call system as necessary to keep residents informed of important updates. For general updates, residents should continue to monitor the Town’s website (townofeasthavenct.org), Twitter, FaceBook or the New Haven Register and East Haven Patch websites on the Internet.”