Police Commission Urges Traffic Signal For Proposed Office Building

By Andrew Gorosko

The Police Commission, acting as the local traffic authority, is recommending that a traffic signal be installed at the congested intersection of Church Hill Road and The Boulevard, in connection with a developer’s proposal to construct a 35,000-square-foot office building there.

Commission members came to that conclusion March 4 after discussing Church Hill Partners, LLC’s, proposal to build a two-story office building on the vacant corner of Church Hill Road and The Boulevard. The planned office building would be the most intensive development project in the borough since the mid-1990s redevelopment of Newtown Shopping Village at 6 Queen Street.

Church Hill Partners is seeking a special exception to the borough zoning regulations for office building construction on the southwestern corner of a 4.4-acre site at 37 Church Hill Road, plus an adjacent 161-space parking lot. The site, which is in a P-1 Professional zone, is across Church Hill Road from Starbucks Coffee. The office building site is owned by Pepper Partners Limited Partnership, and CPCI, LLC, of Bridgeport.

Gary W. Hawley, the managing member of Church Hill Partners, told Police Commission members the proposed building would house professional offices, some of which would be medical offices.

Traffic Engineer Mark Davis, representing the developer, said that although existing traffic volume at the intersection does not meet the levels required for traffic signal installation, the traffic that would be added to the intersection by the presence of the proposed office building would result in sufficient traffic volume to warrant a traffic signal there.

The developer would assume traffic signal installation costs, he said. Police Commission support of installing a traffic signal there would help the developer get state approval for a signal, Mr Davis said.

A traffic signal would improve the functioning of the intersection, Mr Davis said, noting that the current traffic control arrangement there does not work well. The southern end of The Boulevard is now posted with a stop sign for motorists who want to turn left or turn right onto heavily traveled Church Hill Road. Heavy traffic volumes on Church Hill Road, plus poor sight lines from The Boulevard, make exiting The Boulevard hazardous. The fourth leg of the intersection is an exit-only commercial driveway directly across Church Hill Road from The Boulevard.

The developer proposes widening the section of The Boulevard near Church Hill Road to create individual “left turn” and “right turn” lanes for motorists seeking to enter Church Hill Road.

Police Commission member Gerald Finnegan told the developer that having a traffic signal installed at the intersection is an “essential” aspect of the development application.

The flow of construction equipment to and from the office building site would pose added traffic problems, unless there is a traffic signal present, said Police Commission member Carol Mattegat.

 Mr Hawley told Police Commission members he would work to get a traffic signal installed at the intersection as soon as possible.  

  Residents’ Response

Some Boulevard area residents attended the March 4 Police Commission session to monitor the progress of the office building application.

Some residents took issue with the developer’s proposal to locate the driveway entrance to the proposed complex on the residential Boulevard, about 250 feet north of The Boulevard’s intersection with Church Hill Road. Church Hill Partners has proposed that driveway location in view of the state’s prohibition on creating new driveway entrances on the congested Church Hill Road.

John Madzula of 20 The Boulevard said it would be “ludicrous” to put the traffic arriving at and leaving an office building onto The Boulevard. The street already carries much traffic, he said, adding it is “not right” to channel commercial traffic onto a residential street.

Other residents objected to the installation of a traffic signal at the intersection of Church Hill Road and The Boulevard, saying that a signal’s presence would attract yet more traffic onto The Boulevard.

One resident suggested that a traffic signal be installed at a Church Hill Road entrance/exit to an office complex, which would be somewhat east of the Church Hill Road/Boulevard intersection, thus providing traffic control for the office complex and for the St Rose Church property.

Besides the Police Commission review of traffic aspects of the office building proposal, the application is being reviewed by the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z), the borough civil engineer, the local health department, the wetlands agency, and the Housatonic Valley Council of Elected Officials (HVCEO).

The Borough Zoning Commission will conduct a public hearing on Church Hill Partners’ office building application.

The office building proposal is a revised version of a similar informal proposal for the site, which borough officials reviewed last fall. The earlier version called for a 39,260-square-foot building, plus 30 more parking spaces than the current proposal. The current version of the building has more architectural detailing than the previous version.