Date: Fri 04-Sep-1998
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.