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Making Travel Safe

State workers-it seems that everyone has a negative opinion toward them and the media always seems to cover a comment from someone who frankly has no idea what he or she is talking about.

I am a proud wife of a North Haven-based Connecticut Department of Transportation (DOT) employee. Remember how much snow fell last winter? How often? Was it night or on a weekend? Remember how well the roads had been cleared for traveling to work, school, or church the following morning? I do.

My husband isn't home for days at a time during these inclement weather conditions. He and many other Branford-area family members are out at all hours, sick or well, weekends and holidays, ensuring that the roads are clear and as safe as possible so local families can travel safely.

I'd also like to point out that now during hurricane season, our Branford-area DOT employees were out in Hurricane Irene from beginning to end. Every single employee reported to work, leaving his or her family to face the devastation of Irene without them while he or she cleared the roads and highways of debris so locals could travel without delay.

Just imagine what I-91 or I-95 would be like after 14 inches of snowfall with no one plowing it away. What if all the trees and debris just lay there, blocking the exits people use to get home?

I hope Branford-area residents will think more positively toward our hardworking local DOT workers. They risk their lives picking up litter and debris or repairing road with people speeding by at 65 to 80 miles per hour.

I encourage your readers to slow down in work zones. Our families work in them. Instead of rolling their windows down to shout out profanities, I hope they will slow down, wave, and say "thank you" for making travel safe for our locals.

Janae Anderson

Northford