Earlier this month, the Newtown Police Commission received a draft report on the latest traffic study of the flagpole intersection at Main Street and Church Hill Road. After $17,900 and several months of assessment, a traffic engineer presented an easel full of photos, graphics charts, and recommendations to make the iconic intersection merely famous for its arresting appearance rather than notorious for its congestion and hazards. As is the habit with engineers, the solution to this challenge involves much engineering, including road realignments, a raised median, and inevitably, traffic lights. in the middle of Church Hill Road, where it stood until it was replaced by the stone Trinity Church in 1870. Apparently, the crest of Church Hill is just too spectacular a location to remain vacant, because when it came time to erect a flagpole in 1876 to commemorate the nation's centennial, only that spot would do.

Newtown has been thinking about the obstruction in the middle of its Main Street for well over 200 years. Back in 1792, the town tried to ease transit through the intersection by moving the Meeting House, which sat in the middle of the road, to its current location straddled by West Street. At about the same time, however, the town's new Episcopal Church was constructed just across the street from the newly settled Meeting House -

Main Street is not the dirt track with desultory hoof and foot traffic that it was in centuries past. It now carries about 25,000 vehicles daily, with even more traffic crowding in from Church Hill and West Street. Over a six-year period, according to the engineer's report, 20 vehicles have driven into the flagpole, with another 74 accidents occurring around its base. That is one accident for nearly every foot of the 100-foot-tall pole. Tractor-trailers swing every whichway like wayward hinges trying to negotiate turns without disturbing Old Glory, some with better success than others. We have also thrown into the mix three well-worn crosswalks for the truly daring.

Well-documented hazards notwithstanding, the recommendations of this latest traffic study are attracting the expected resistance and indignation from a town suspicious of any designs on its revered flagpole. The Borough Board of Burgesses last week voiced its unanimous opposition. Borough Warden James O. Gaston cautioned the Police Commission, "I would hope that common sense would prevail here," suggesting that the safety hazards at the flagpole intersection are not all that serious.

Common sense should tell us, however, that the traffic safety problems at the flagpole are quite real even without the benefit of accident statistics. Most Newtowners try to avoid the intersection altogether, especially if their trip involves a left turn. That is bad news for the business men and women now investing in the area. Model projections for the flow of traffic in the area through 2018 show the congestion and confusion in the intersection only getting worse.

The central point of contention emerging from this flagpole traffic study is what it always has been for every study before it: aesthetics vs public safety. If this were any other intersection, traffic lights would have been strung up long ago. But in this particular place, Newtown has been willing to accept a certain amount of risk and inconvenience for the sake of an uncluttered view of its beloved flagpole.

The challenge for the town, however, is to avoid venturing into negligence by increments. The traffic at Main Street and Church Hill Road gets worse every year. If common sense really were to prevail, suggestions for bringing order to an often-chaotic intersection would not be perfunctorily dismissed out of hand. They should be widely discussed, revised and scaled back where necessary, and eventually implemented. If our forebears could do it, so can we.