The Connecticut Department of Transportation is launching a $31 million project to increase truck parking statewide.
The department will expand truck parking at five locations across the state. The lack of truck parking has been deemed a “national safety concern” by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
The project’s first phase is underway at the Middletown rest area on Interstate 91 northbound. It will have an additional 11 parking spaces, the department said in an announcement about the project. The Middletown phase, scheduled to be completed in September, will cost more than $3 million and includes upgraded drainage and stormwater management.
“During the COVID-19 pandemic, we heard truckers loud and clear when they called for more places to safely park along state highways,” Connecticut DOT Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto said in the announcement. “We are excited to begin these projects to improve safety for the trucking community, who keep our economy moving.”