Date: Fri 23-Oct-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: STEVEB

Quick Words:

Rosenthal-DOT-Route-25

Full Text:

Rosenthal Restates His Opposition To Route 25 Widening Project

BY STEVE BIGHAM

First Selectman Herb Rosenthal sent a letter to Department of Transportation

(DOT) officials October 9, reiterating his opposition to the state's plan to

widen Route 25 in Newtown.

Instead, the first selectman suggested that the DOT consider doing some "spot"

widening to alleviate traffic and safety problems. To widen the entire road or

even a large portion of it would be "overkill," he wrote.

In a letter to Edgar T. Hurle, the DOT's director of environmental planning,

Mr Rosenthal said full or limited widening "would have a detrimental effect on

the character of the town as a whole," not to mention the residential and

commercial properties along that corridor.

The state's plan is to widen Route 25 from two to four lanes between Mile Hill

Road and Route 111 in Trumbull.

Some residents fear widening Route 25 could ruin Newtown's character, speed up

traffic and intensify the growth problem.

Widening the road may be needed over the border, Mr Rosenthal said, but not in

Newtown.

"Most tie-ups are in Monroe," he said. "The traffic is much lighter on the

Newtown stretch of Route 25. A lot of cars heading south hit 25 at Toddy Hill

Road near the Monroe line."

Mr Rosenthal requested that the DOT fund a study similar to the one conducted

by the regional planning agency, Housatonic Valley Council of Elected

Officials (HVCEO), in 1982 and updated in 1986. Numerous improvements were

made as a result of that study, but the study needs to be updated, according

to Mr Rosenthal.

"I would think there are some safety issues that have popped up since," he

said.

The Planning & Zoning Commission has also recommended to the state that it do

"spot" improvements of Route 25 in Newtown.

Among others, an all-out widening of Route 25 would jeopardize a green and tee

at the Newtown Country Club and take away land from the Taunton Press

property.

Mr Rosenthal suspects there has been some confusion over the current state of

traffic flow on Route 25 in Newtown and Monroe. Newtown is part of the HVCEO,

which handles northern Fairfield County. Monroe is part of the greater

Bridgeport region.

There is currently no schedule for road improvements.