Residents Oppose Connecting Two Dead-End Roads

By Andrew Gorosko

During an often contentious informational session on August 23, affected residents made it abundantly clear to town officials that they oppose a municipal proposal to connect the dead-end Little Brook Lane to the dead-end Turkey Hill Road.

More than 60 people who live in the area of Little Brook Lane, Turkey Hill Road, and Turkey Roost Road attended the three-hour overflow session at Town Hall South, stressing their opposition to the controversial road connection proposal.

Petitions bearing more than 200 signatures of those opposed to a road connection were presented to town officials.

Little Brook Lane and Turkey Hill Road residents stressed that their quality of life would be damaged if the linked roads allowed through-traffic to pass through the area, increasing the volume and type of traffic that travels there.

Town officials have suggested linking Little Brook Lane to the dead-end Turkey Roost Road as an alternate plan, if a Little Brook Lane connection to Turkey Hill Road does not occur. Turkey Roost Road residents present at the August 23 session similarly stressed their opposition to such a road connection. 

Town officials say that linking Little Brook Lane and Turkey Hill Road is needed for public safety reasons and would provide improved access to homes in that general area by police, fire, and ambulance crews. A road connection also would provide the town highway department with improved access to the Toddy Hill Road and Route 34 areas. The town highway garage is located on Turkey Hill Road, near its intersection with Mile Hill Road South.

Town emergency services managers have endorsed a road connection as a way to improve emergency access to the area.

But residents opposed to a road connection say that not only would the new through-road carry much more traffic, but also a different type of traffic, including motorists using the connection as a shortcut to go elsewhere and industrial truck traffic generated by firms that do business in the area.

The road connection proposal came to a head at a recent Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) session at which the town served as the agent in seeking a zoning variance on behalf of Anthony DeLucia of Bridgeport, who owns land at 37 Little Brook Lane. The requested zoning variance would create a legal mechanism to link Little Brook Lane to Turkey Hill Road.

Based on the high level of opposition to linking those two roads expressed on August 23, the town may seek to withdraw, without prejudice, the ZBA application, said First Selectman Herb Rosenthal, who moderated the informational session. Mr Rosenthal said he would discuss the matter with the other two selectmen.

In a statement, Ruben and Natalia Aparicio of 31 Little Brook Lane described what they expect would happen if Little Brook Lane is connected to Turkey Hill Road.

“Much more traffic, especially fast moving trucks, are likely to go through our narrow street and past our blind curves and driveways. The result of this increased traffic is the end of families taking walks together, joggers, children playing, children walking to school, and baby carriages using our dead-end road safely,” they wrote.  

Until a decade ago, Little Brook Lane and Turkey Hill Road were connected, after which that connection was cut when residential land was subdivided in the area and a turnaround circle was created at the end of Little Brook Lane.

Reconnecting the two roads would provide emergency services workers with a secondary access via Little Brook Lane to the neighborhood that includes River Run, Nearbrook Drive, Mountain View Drive, Turkey Hill Terrace, Toddy Hill Drive, and southern sections of Turkey Hill Road, according to Public Works Director Fred Hurley.

Turkey Hill Road crosses above the Pootatuck River. In the event that the river should flood over Turkey Hill Road, as it has in the past, the proposed road connection would provide the town with an alternate accessway to a neighborhood, which would otherwise be isolated, he has said.

The past linkage between Little Brook Lane and Turkey Hill Road was created by the town as an emergency road after a former bridge on Turkey Hill Road was washed out by a flood.

One area resident who recalled the time when the two roads were linked said that speeding motorists from elsewhere used the through-road as shortcut in their travels, disrupting the area.

Several area residents suggested that any link between Little Brook Lane and Turkey Hill Road be gated and be locked and that the keys be provided to emergency services workers.

Mr Rosenthal said that such a gated road might be possibility.

However, resident James Smith of 2 Little Brook Lane said the installation of a gate would not be a workable solution.

Following three hours of largely negative comments about the town’s road connection proposal, Mr Rosenthal said, “I clearly heard what was said tonight.”