The state Department of Transportation (DOT) has decided that a traffic signal will not be installed at the intersection of Hawleyville Road (Route 25) and Covered Bridge Road to serve a planned mixed-use complex there that will include a 180-unit rental apartment complex, a diner, and a church.The Newtown Bee.

The Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z), in approving the development plans for the complex late last year had urged that such a traffic signal be installed to control expected increased traffic flow at the intersection, but the DOT decided that signal installation is "not warranted."

Traffic engineer Michael Galante of Fredrick P. Clark Associates, Inc, of Fairfield informed the Police Commission of the DOT's decision at a March 1 meeting. The Police Commission is the local traffic authority and had reviewed the traffic aspects of the planned complex before the P&Z approved it.

In a March 1 letter to Police Chief James Viadero, Mr Galante wrote, "It was determined by ConnDOT and [the Office of State Traffic Administration] that signalization of the intersection of State Route 25 and Covered Bridge Road is not warranted." By the DOT's calculation, there would not be sufficient traffic flow after the complex is built to justify traffic signal installation.

In the letter, Mr Galante wrote that the existing road shoulders on Route 25 in that area "are adequate and appropriate" to function as bypass lanes at both Covered Bridge Road and the driveway for the planned diner.

Also, the letter addresses the configurations of exit lanes for Covered Bridge Road and for the diner driveway, both at Hawleyville Road.

Mr Galante was scheduled to meet with the P&Z to discuss traffic access issues regarding the planned mixed-use complex. The P&Z session was slated for the night of March 3, after the deadline for this edition of

In December, the complex planned for a 42-acre site off Hawleyville Road, near the Exit 9 interchange of Interstate 84, gained final approval from the P&Z, marking the land use agency's endorsement of one the largest local development projects in memory.

The five voting P&Z members unanimously approved a special permit for Covered Bridge Newtown, LLC's, plans for a 180-unit rental apartment complex contained in six three-story buildings on Covered Bridge Road, plus a diner at 13 Hawleyville Road.

In November, the P&Z had approved a special permit for Grace Family Church, Inc's, proposal to construct a new church off Covered Bridge Road, as part of the mixed-use project.

As part of its approval, the P&Z required Covered Bridge to strongly pursue state approval to install a traffic signal at the intersection of Hawleyville Road and Covered Bridge Road. That intersection would provide vehicular access to the church and to the apartments. Before the project was approved, Mr Galante had told P&Z members that the amount of traffic that would travel through that intersection after the complex is fully built would not be sufficient for the DOT to approve traffic signal installation. P&Z members nevertheless required the developer to formally seek approval for a traffic signal.