Log In


Reset Password
Archive

Date: Fri 04-Sep-1998

Print

Tweet

Text Size


Date: Fri 04-Sep-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

DOT-Route-25-widening

Full Text:

Sept. 8 Hearing Set On Route 25 Widening Proposal

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

The state Department of Transportation (DOT) will conduct a public hearing

Tuesday, September 8, on its proposal to widen Route 25 from Mile Hill Road in

Newtown to Route 111 in Trumbull to improve traffic flow on the

heavily-traveled thoroughfare.

The hearing is scheduled for 7 to 11 pm at Newtown High School, Berkshire

Road. Federal and state transportation officials will be present at 6 pm to

answer questions on the road widening proposal.

Keith Hall, DOT's project manager, explains the state has developed a

tentative list of seven properties in Newtown it may have to acquire for the

widening project to proceed. As the conceptual plans evolve into design plans,

the list of properties may change.

The seven properties the state may have to acquire are: occupied houses at 70,

126, and 350 South Main Street; an abandoned house at 312 South Main Street;

Gene's Signs at 178 South Main Street; Black Swan Gifts at 182 South Main

Street; and Town Line Convenience Store at 365 South Main Street.

Besides the seven properties, there also are an unspecified number of

properties that would be affected by severe reductions in lot size and parking

area.

After public hearings on the proposal are conducted, DOT planners will be able

to better gauge a schedule for such a project, according to Mr Hall.

The widening work proposed by DOT would cost approximately $82.5 million in

current dollar value, Mr Hall said. Acquiring rights-of-way for road widening

would add to that cost.

"This is all in the planning stages. When it's in design (stages), we will do

all we can" to limit the state's acquisition of properties for road widening,

Mr Hall explained.

A more extensive road widening project which was considered but turned down by

the DOT would have a $144.3 million construction cost.

Route 25 is a primary link between Interstate-95 to the south and

Interstate-84 to the north. Improvements are needed to Route 25 due to current

inadequate road geometry, inconsistent speeds, inadequate access control,

expected growth in the corridor leading to higher traffic volumes, and safety

problems, according to DOT.

The proposal to widen the road or build a new version of it has been discussed

for many years.

In reviewing what should be done to improve traffic flow on Route 25, DOT

considered: doing nothing; fully widening the two-lane Route 25 into a

four-lane road with the construction of 15-foot-wide median strip, plus wide

outside road shoulders; or doing a limited widening of the road, which is

DOT's preferred alternative.

Under the preferred alternative, Route 25 would be widened on its existing

alignment to two through-lanes in each direction between Mile Hill Road and

Route 111 in Trumbull. The road would have four 12-foot-wide travel lanes and

two two-foot wide outside road shoulders. The road's right-of-way would be 75

feet wide. Auxiliary turning lanes would be added at major intersections as

judged feasible to do so.

DOT states that, at a minimum, exclusive left-turn lanes would be added on the

Route 25 approaches to four existing intersections with traffic signals. These

are: Route 111 in Trumbull; Purdy Hill Road/Judd Road in Monroe; Route 59 in

Monroe; and Bradford Drive in Monroe. "The intersection of Route 25 and Mile

Hill Road in Newtown...will also require additional turning lanes beyond those

provided as part of the widening of mainline Route 25 itself," according to

DOT.

The DOT opts to terminate a widened Route 25 at Mile Hill Road because Mile

Hill Road is being rebuilt as the Fairfield Hills bypass road and will provide

good access to Interstate-84 via Exit 11.

In the 1980s, before such a bypass road was planned, DOT had been planning a

widening of Route 25 which would have terminated at the Main Street flagpole,

which was then the most direct means of getting to I-84 via Church Hill Road

and Exit 10.

To reduce the effect on structures and resources adjacent to the widened road,

the DOT proposes using minimum design standards in the road widening,

eliminating or reducing the severity of conflicts between the users of Route

25 and its intersecting roads, according to DOT.

Copies of the extensive DOT report on the road widening proposal are available

for review at the town clerk's office at Edmond Town Hall, 45 Main Street; the

Booth Library, reference department, 25 Main Street; and the Housatonic Valley

Council of Elected Officials, Old Town Hall, Route 25, Brookfield Center.

Comments
Comments are open. Be civil.
0 comments

Leave a Reply