Printer Friendly Version - DMV Express Opens in North Haven Shopping Center

From left, Connecticut Banking Commissioner Jorge Perez, North Haven First Selectman Mike Freda, Nutmeg State Credit Union President John Holt, Lieutenant Governor Nancy Wyman, DMV Commissioner Michael Bzdrya, State Representative Dave Yaccarino (R-87), and State Senator Len Fasano (R-34) cut the ribbon at the new Nutmeg State Credit Union and DMV Express location in North Haven. Photo by Nathan Hughart/The Courier

With the opening of a new Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) Express location in town, residents will have the option to avoid the busy Hamden location for most of their DMV needs.

Local legislators and town officials attended the Dec. 14 ribbon cutting in the North Haven Shopping Center at 117 Washington Avenue, where the new, seven-station DMV Express is paired with the Nutmeg State Credit Union (NSCU), the second and largest partnership of its kind in the area.

“We are calling this, pretty much, our DMV Express Superstore,” said NSCU President John Holt at the ribbon cutting.

The new location offers license renewals, replacements, name changes, and address changes.

“That really allows for tremendous flexibility for our residents to have those services provided locally,” said First Selectman Mike Freda.

“The idea is that we use these convenient locations so that our customers can get in and out more quickly to do driver’s license transactions and ID transactions,” said DMV Commissioner Michael Bzdyra. “We’re looking forward to having residents use this.”

Though the DMV Express is located within the NSCU office, use of the facility is available to the public with an $8 convenience charge that is waived for NSCU members.

The benefit for NSCU, Bzdyra said, is the potential to create new credit union customers out of DMV customers while providing its existing members with free access to the service.

This will be the fourth DMV Express office created by the state this year. Of the three others, one is also partnered with NSCU in Milford. Another is partnered with the WorkPlace, a non-profit career counseling service in Bridgeport.

Bzdyra said that DMV Express options in New Haven and Fairfield counties are part of an effort to replace services lost in 2017 when AAA lost its ability to offer license renewals.

The new locations are also part of an effort to update DMV services, with an emphasis on bringing down wait times. Customers can now set up appointments online up to two months in advance for the North Haven location.

“We live in an ever-changing environment and consumers today…are demanding that we catch up with the times and demanding that we provide them with better service every day,” said Connecticut Banking Commissioner Jorge Perez.

Kiosks are available in the entrance of the store that allow customers to check in and be notified of their appointment, even if they have left the facility.

“This project was part of a broader economic development strategy to fill out space in the North Haven Shopping Center,” said Freda.

Of the 160,000 square feet in the shopping center at 117 Washington Avenue, only 85,000 square feet are in use, Freda said.

“By 2019, I hope somewhere in the late summer, that plaza should be fully occupied,” he said.